


The Spirit of the Cathedral

by BonesAtlantis_21



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Survival Horror, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29395407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BonesAtlantis_21/pseuds/BonesAtlantis_21
Summary: Six months after the Battle of Shiganshina, Eren and his friends find themselves going on a mental health retreat into the mysterious mountains just outside of Mitras. The catch is, there is supposedly a haunted Castle nearby. But they should have nothing to fear, Titans are the scariest thing that Eren and his friends could ever encounter, right?
Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Erwin Smith
Comments: 10
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this fun little fic! So here are the rules for this story: Erwin and Moblit are still alive, along with a majority of the Scouts that died at the Battle to reclaim the outer wall. Armin still became the Colossal Titan and this takes place in the summer. Also, I know that there are no mountains near Mitras! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

“I will bet you everything I own that you can’t stay a night in that castle!” Jean taunted Eren for what felt like the millionth time that day. 

“Jean, are you serious.” Eren looked at him dumbfounded. “We face man-eating monsters, I can turn into a titan, and you really think I would be scared of a supposed rumor?” “Ha! Jean, you're pretty stupid, but that was pretty funny.” 

“Eren! You would cry your eyes out to the point that Mikasa would have to rescue you!” Jean shouted. 

“No, I wouldn’t.” Eren laughed again. “I don’t care how many cadets claim that place is haunted. Ghosts aren’t real. Plus, if they were, there aren’t many things scarier than titans. And we are beating all of them.” 

Jean, getting mad now, glanced aggressively at Eren. “It's gotta be haunted!”

“Jean ghosts aren’t real.” Armin looked up from his book. “The idea that the old castle is haunted is just a rumor.” 

“But so many MPs have been scared shitless there!!” Jean said. “It's got to be haunted!” 

Armin gazed at Jean with bleary-eyed; he let his shoulders drop with a long sigh. “If you're just trying to freak Eren out, just say it.” 

“I'm not!” 

It had been six months since the Battle of Shiganshina had taken place, and things, for once, we're actually going good for the Scouts. They had reclaimed the wall with few casualties, they were seeing fewer titans each day, and they hadn’t had a scout death in nearly four months. Things were actually going smoothly for Eren and his friends, so now they had more time to relax on days such as this. Where Jean, Armin, and Eren found themselves taking refuge from the summer heat in the shade provided by a large tree. 

“Hey, guys!” Connie, Mikasa, and Sasha walked up to them. 

Sasha, with her mouth stuffed with food, asked the group a question. “What are you all talking about?” 

“Jean wants us to spend a night in the old Castle North from here. Apparently, a bunch of MPs says it's haunted.” Eren sighed. “Whatever that means!” 

“What no! Not the Ginsberg Castle!” Sasha cried. 

“Wait, you’ve heard of it?” Jean asked. 

Sasha, with exaggeration, bobbed her head up and down. “Back in my village, a bunch of kids went on a weekend trip to go explore it, But then they never came back!” 

“They probably got lost on their way up there.” Eren rolled his eyes. 

“No! My father and a group of the men went looking for them and never found any trace of them except for footsteps and scratch marks on nearby trees! The worst part was when my father and the men came back. They said that they felt like someone was watching them the entire time. They were all alone up there! ” 

The group gazed at each other. Sasha’s story filled the air with a sense of unease.  
  
“I say let's go.” Connie bluntly broke the tension.

“Really! After what I just told you, you want to go now!” Sasha cried. 

“Yes,” Connie said bluntly. 

“That's stupid,” Eren said. 

“You’re stupid,” Jean remarked. 

“Shut up, Jean!” 

“Wait, guys, hear me out; it might be fun!” Connie said. “I've also heard a lot of rumors about that place like a witch lives there. In my village, a group of people also went camping up there and said they heard devilish screams all night! I've been curious since I was a kid, and come on; we’ve faced titans, what could be scarier than that!” 

“Nah, Eren would never do it; he's too scared to go!” Jean sneered. 

“Am not!” Eren defended himself.

“Yeah, you are!” 

“I bet you’re too scared to go!” 

Connie scratching his chin, came up with an idea. “Hey, guys!” He got the attention of the group. “Let's settle this debate you two are having, we all go up there, and then both Jean and Eren each spend a whole hour alone in the castle in the dark. And then whoever gives up first has to…” Connie thought for a moment. “Has to do all the other person chores for a week.” 

Eren and Jean looked at each other. “That's not enough!” Eren whined. 

“Well then, how about whoever loses has to call the Captain short, to his face,” Mikasa suggested. 

“Woah, Woah,” Jean put his hands up. “Neither of us are trying to die. I think that's a little too extreme.”

“What, afraid you're going to lose Jean, boy!” Eren mocked. 

“No, no, I am not, but unlike you, I don’t have Titan powers to heal myself when the Captain cuts my arms off!” Jean chanted. 

“That's only if you lose, though.” Connie reminded. 

Jean glanced at Connie, then at Eren, who had a wide devilish smirk spread across his white face. “You know what.” Jean puffed out his chest and straightened his posture. “You’re on!” 

“Same to you, horse face!” Eren grinned. 

“Okay, so loser has to do winners chores and call the Captain short.” Connie proposed. 

“To his face!” Mikasa added. 

“To his face!” Connie lifted a finger. “Does that sound fair?” 

“Deal!” Jean nodded.

“Deal!” Eren nodded.

The two shook on it. 

“Well, if you three are going to the Castle, I am too,” Mikasa stated. 

“Great!” Connie shouted, then turned to Sasha.

“Hmmm, I still don’t like it, but if everyone is going, I guess I'll go.” Sasha cried. “Just can we please bring snacks?” 

“But all of you are forgetting something.” Armin stood up from his spot on the grass, “The Ginsberg Castle isn’t exactly a walk to the park. It's a half day's trip up into the inferno mountains by Mitras, so we are going to need horses to get there.” 

“Well, do you have any ideas on how we get there?” Eren asked. 

“I do actually, we will be gone for at least two days, and the only way we could be gone that long without anyone raising suspensions is if we go on a mental health retreat.” 

“Don’t those need to get approved by the Commander, though?” Mikasa asked. 

Armin nodded. “As well as approval from our direct superior, and we also need a veteran supervisor.” 

“Ahhh!” The group moaned. 

“There is no way we could convince Captain Levi to come with us!” Jean smacked his hand against his head. 

“I know like what do we say ‘Hey Captain wanna come with us to watch Jean and I make fools out of ourselves in an old castle, for fun!’” Eren said. 

Connie looked at Eren, “You know, it might work.” 

Eren gave Connie a look that said _Shut up_! 

“No,” Armin said. “Not Captain Levi, but if we play our cards right and you guys let me do the talking, I might know just the person we could convince.” 

“You want me to go with all of you on a mental health retreat into the upper inferno mountains!” Hange pushed their glasses onto the bridge of their nose to get a better look at the six teenagers in their office. 

“Yes,” Armin stated while the rest nodded their heads. “We are really curious as to the diverse plant life up there and heard a rumor that titan blood fertilized the trees.” “So we wanted to go so we could learn about the tree's biology for ourselves, but we need a veteran supervisor, and we thought what better person to come with us than the great titan scientist themself!” 

Hange looked at all of them carefully for a few moments. They gazed at each teenager that stood in front of them, each with a smile plastered on their face, except Sasha, who had a potato in her mouth, even Mikasa had a small smile on her lips. After these moments, Hanges lips spread wide over their face, and they nearly jumped out from their desk. 

“YAHA!” Hange screamed from excitement, making everyone in their office jerk back. “I am so happy you asked! Not a lot of people know this, but in the early days of my youth, I had an obsession with plants!” Hange walked over to their cabinets and began pulling out posters and pens. “And if you believe that these trees might have titan blood in them, well then, we must go discover this for ourselves, don’t we!” 

“So you’ll supervise us?” Eren asked. 

“Of course!” Hange smiled. “Although I do ask for one, two requests, one that we make it a three-day trip. Secondly, is it okay that I bring my assistant Moblit?” 

The group looked at each other. _Three days was much better than two._ Many of them thought. Plus, it would be nice to spend some time away from the barracks. The Castle was haunted, but as far as they knew, the forest or the mountains weren’t.

“Yeah, that's fine.” Armin smiled. 

“Great!” “I'll tell Moblit, and then we will go make our case to Erwin! Meet me back at the Commander's office in 30 minutes!” Hange shouted and then ran out of their office. 

Once Hange was out of earshot, Jean spoke up. “Titan blood fertilizer?” 

“Well, I had to convince them somehow.” Armin defended himself. 

“Okay, well, at least we will be gone for three days now, so that will give us plenty of time to sneak off and go to the Castle for the bet,” Connie said. 

Sasha shuddered and looked down nervously. Connie's comment made her uneasy. She remembered the day the kids left to go to the Castle. They were all older than her, as she was just eight at the time, but she still shuddered at the thought. 

_“Mama, why can’t I go!” Sasha had whined to her mother._

_“Because sweetie, they are much older than you, and they want to go on an adventure by themselves.” Her mother pushed loose strands of her out of Sashas eyes._

_“Fine!” Little Sasha whined._

_“I have some meat frying.” Her mother commented._

_“MEAT!” Little Sasha jumped up and down with Joy._

_Later Sasha watched from the Window as the four teenagers left to go on their adventure. She wasn’t very close with them all, but one girl in the group named Sammy would always bring her bunny meat. Sasha watched as they rode off on their horses; Sammie’s maroon cape with embroidered flowers flowed in the wind._

  
Thirty minutes later, the group found themselves outside of Commander Erwin's office, waiting for Hange and Moblit. 

“Alright, are we all here!” Hange ran down the hall with Moblit behind them, carrying rolls of paper. 

“Hange, do you think we can convince the Commander to let us go?” Connie asked. 

“Convincing the Commander will be easy, convincing your Captain that's another story,” Hange stated. 

The group's smile disappeared. They forgot they also had to convince their Captain. 

“Where is the Captain?” Eren asked.

“Probably with the Commander,” Mikasa muttered under her breath.

“Don’t worry, I have brought my notes, and I have a plan!” Hange winked before they knocked on the door. 

“Come in,” came Erwin's low voice from beyond the door. 

Moblit opened the door and let in the entire group, which Hange led. 

When they walked, Erwin looked up from his paperwork at his desk, and Levi peered from the large chair he was sitting in. “Tsh, what to do brats want?” 

Mikasa smirked. She was right. 

“Levi’s Squad, Hange, Moblit. To what do I owe the pleasure.” Erwin's demeanor was completely the opposite of Levi's. 

“Commander Erwin, Captain Levi, we have a proposition for the two of you,” Hange excitedly stated, then motioned to Armin to speak. 

“Commander, Captain, we would, with your approval, like to go on a three-day mental health retreat into the inferno mountains.” Armin got directly to the point. 

“The inferno mountains, what's so special there?” Levi asked, getting up from his chair and slowly strutted towards Armin; he couldn’t help but notice the unease that fell across the group, beads of sweat dripping down Jean and Eren's face.   
“I am glad you asked!” Hange shouted in Levi's ear as they shoved past him and pulled out one of the posters Hange had Mobilt bring. 

“Errr.” Mobilt cried as Hange’s aggressive poster pulling made him lose his balance. 

Hange rolled open the paper to relieve a diagram of the trees that were in the inferno mountains. “You see, gentlemen, the inferno mountains are home to some of the most unique and diverse species of trees that we know of. Their odd biology has made it a mystery for generations as to why? Why can these trees survive in the odd, diverse climates that the inferno mountains provide!” “You see, the mountains are made purely of granite and obsidian, which is old volcanic material, but as far as we know, there are known volcanoes anywhere near there, and still the ground makes these trees reach unusually high latitudes making them attuned to such intense weather patterns.” 

“Just say they’re tall-ass trees, four-eyes!” Levi muttered, leaning against Erwin's desk with his arms crossed.

“Yes, yes, but why are they so tall!” Hange asked as they grabbed the second poster and put it over the first one. 

This time Mobilt was ready as he had it out for them, but as they turned around, the posters far end hit him in the face. 

“Ow!” Mobilt cried, making Sasha and Connie giggle. 

As Hange rolled the paper out, she began her next argument. “Thanks to these six fine individuals here, they have brought up an interesting hypothesis as to why these trees could be so tall. TITAN BLOOD!” 

“Oh god,” Levi muttered, letting his head drop. 

“They think, as well as I do, that the remains of titan corpses possibly fertilized the trees a long time ago and that the intense climates somehow preserved the titan's blood from evaporating!” Hange grabbed the last poster making Mobilt completely fall over. Armin helped him up.

Placing down the last poster, Hange began their final point. “So I propose that I and my assistant along with your squad, Levi, go to these mountains, starting tomorrow, which is in the summer when the climate is not that harsh, so we can study these trees, test out hypotheses, and allow your squad a mental health break from their duties. And I Zoe Hange will supervise them the entire time.” “Thank you!”

Levi and Erwin glanced at each other and then back at the group in front of them. 

“Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea.” Erwin agreed with a smile. 

“Tsh, is that what you brats actually want?” Levi questioned them and once again approached his squad, who all seemed to be nervously shaking. 

“Yes, Captain Levi, we do,” Connie spoke up, trying to hide his nerves. 

“I don’t know. All of you left a big mess in your quarters last week. I'm not sure how much a mini-vacation would benefit you.” Levi challenged them.

“Captain Levi.” Erwin interrupted. “All we have on the agenda for the next three days is the MP banquet, then you, like myself, would have much free time, I'm not sure what you would like to do with that, but I know personally that free time away from one's squad can have many… benefits.” 

Levi turned to Erwin, and his eyes widened, “Okay, all of you can go.” 

“Yes!” They all cheered with excitement. 

“But make sure your quarters are spotless before you leave and listen to Hange!” Levi shouted. 

“I'll sign off on the papers tonight,” Erwin said. “You may leave with your horses and camping supplies tomorrow at first light, make sure to take your gear with you in case you run into trouble, but other than that, wear civilian clothes.” 

“Will do, Commander!” Eren smiled happily. 

The group began to thank the two of them and then slowly filed out of Commander Erwin's office. 

Once the door closed, Levi sighed. “You know they aren’t actually going there for trees, right?” 

“Yes, but do you really want to know?” Erwin asked, getting up. 

Levi shook his head. “No, I don’t. I just don’t want to have to go bail them out of trouble.” 

“I'm sure they will be fine; there's not much trouble they can run into while they are camping.” 

“I'm sure they will find a way to screw things up.” Levi reckoned. 

Erwin laughed and then walked closer to Levi and used his one good arm to wrap around Levi’s waist to bring him closer.“I'm sure they will be fine, plus it will be nice to spend some time with just the two of us.” 

Levi actually smiled for a moment. “Yes, it will.”


	2. Chapter 2

“I can’t believe we pulled this off!” Jean smiled while loading up his horse with his clothes and other supplies. 

“I know, right!” Connie added. “Honestly, Armin, I am going to come to you for all my problems!” 

“Thank you,” Armin stated. “But it was a pretty easy solution.” Armin fed his horse some carrots and began petting their mane. 

“Did you guys finish the last of the cleaning?” Connie asked Mikasa and Eren as they walked up with their bags and the tents. 

“Yes,” Mikasa stated. 

“Jean! What the hell? The sink was filthy! Captain Levi would never approve of that!” Eren yelled at Jean. 

“Hey, my handy work was fine! Maybe if you weren’t such a slob while eating, there wouldn’t have been so much dirt on the sink to begin with!” 

“Gentlemen! Gentlemen!” Connie got between them. “Let's sort this out at the Castle.” 

“Fine!” Eren and Jean both shouted. 

Eren found himself looking around. “Hey, where’s Sasha?” he asked, noticing her absence. 

“She's getting snacks,” Connie stated. 

“Hi, Guys!” “Are we all ready to go!” Hange busted into the stable with Moblit behind them. 

“We are just waiting on Sasha,” Armin commented. 

“She's getting food,” Jean added. 

“Great! Well, we can't have camping trips without food, can we.” Hange smiled as they adjusted their goggles. “I mean, if we didn’t have food, we would have to kill the weakest link and eat their flesh as the Titans do. Hahaha!” Hange laughed. 

Hange’s joke made the entire group's face go pale. 

“Section Commander, that's not funny!” Moblit snapped. 

“Oh, come on now.” Hange smiled, “I was only joking. Everyone knows you go crazy if you eat human flesh!” 

“Why’s that?” Armin asked. 

“Oh, it's an old wife's tale, that if someone resorts to cannibalism, they slowly go mad, transform into a leather-skinned monster, and begin eating everyone, but I am pretty sure it's just a legend for Titans.” Hange rolled their eyes. 

“Hey, guys, I got meat!” Sasha walked up with a basket of meats. 

“Sasha, where did you get that?” Connie asked suspiciously. 

“Don’t worry. I bought it with my money.” Sasha rolled her eyes. _Most of it_. 

“Good thinking Sasha, now we have meat as well as food.” Hange walked up to her and ruffled her hair. 

“Alright, should we get a move on! We have trees to look at!” 

The groups all got on their horses and began riding out of the Scouts Main Base. The morning cool air blew against their faces and into their hair. Sasha put her arms out as if she was flying, her dress blowing in the wind. _This is nice_. She thought to herself. 

Connie decided to mimic her and do the same thing. “Ah, it feels nice to be riding horses and not be chanced by Titans!” 

“I can agree to that!” Hange yelled from the front as they stuck their arms out. “I don’t remember the last time I went on a retreat, and it's been so long!” 

“Really?” Armin, to their left, asked. 

“Yes, the last time I went on a Vacation like-trip was when Erwin got promoted to Commander, there was a banquet for him in Mitras, and all the scouts went,” Hange shouted over the blowing of the wind. 

“Wow, that must have been beautiful.” Armin's eyes light up at the thought of a beautiful gallery. 

“It was.” Hange smiled. “We all wore our nicest outfits, and there were so\ much food and dessert. They had cake!” 

“And a lot of booze!” Moblit began laughing. “That's also the night when Levi got drunk!” 

“Captain Levi got drunk!” Eren asked in disbelief. 

“Oh my, yes!” Hange smiled. “I almost forgot about that!” “It was partially my fault, and I convinced him to drink. That man is so small the next thing I knew. He was slurring his words and vomiting up his entire dinner!” Hange began laughing, remembering the incident. 

“Erwin had to carry him back to his room.” Mobilt snickered. 

“What kind of drunk was he?” Jean asked. 

“To tell you the truth, I'm not sure.” Hange created a thoughtful look. “He disappeared most of the night, but Miche had said that he caught him trying to pick a fight with one of the noblemen.” “Either way, the next day, he had such a bad hangover he was convinced he was going to die!” 

A chorus of laughter echoed over the wind as the group imagined their usual hard-headed and intimidating Captain sick with such a bad hangover he thought death would come for him.

“That's too funny. I never thought the Captain could get drunk,” Jean smirked. 

“Yeah, but keep this story to yourselves. He later told us that he would kill us if we brought it up again, so try not to mention it,” Moblit stated. 

“Oh, trust me, we won’t.” Eren winked at Armin, who in response giggled to himself. 

After a few more hours of riding, they reached the base of the inferno Mountains. A large metal gate blocked the view of a small path that seemed to lead into the unknown because the dark 80-foot tall trees appeared to not let in any sunlight. But as the group reached the gate, they halted because air filled the air around them with an unholy putrid smell.

“Ahhhh!” Jean shrieked while covering his mouth, “what's that smell!” 

Sasha held her nose in the hair. “It smells… like rotting flesh!” She cried as she jumped down from her horse. 

“Yuck!” Connie commented. 

“Where's it coming from?” Armin pondered. 

“That's a good question,” Hange stated. They looked around. “I don’t see anything.” 

Sasha continued to walk along the lines of the bushes, sniffing. Curiosity was getting the best of her because the smell smelled so foul and so heavy in the air that it had to be something large. It wasn’t just a squirrel or possum. 

While most of the group was speculating what that horrible smell could be, Eren's attention was captivated by Forrest. _Something shifted._ He thought when he saw the outline of a figure move behind the wide trunk of a tree. Eren focused his line of sight on the tree trunk, and after a moment, he could have sworn he saw someone poking its head out. Curious, Eren jumped from his horse and walked into the forest to investigate this strange occurrence. The sudden light depletion blinded him, but he continued to walk forward until he got a perfect view of the large tree trunk that the supposed figure was hiding behind. 

“Hello?” He called out to it. “Is someone there.” 

Eren fell silent for a moment as he tried to listen, to see if he could hear anything. He heard birds chirping, squirrels climbing up trees, bunnies rustling, and breathing. He listened closer. It was faint, but Eren could defiantly hear the shallow breaths of a person not wanting to be heard. Slowly he walked towards it and then reluctantly decided to call out again. “If you're there, please come out. I won't hurt you.” The breathing stopped. Chills ran up Eren's spine, and he wanted to stop and turn around, but pride and curiously made his legs move forward. 

The tree trunk was just a few feet away now, and Eren could feel the thunderous beat of his heart pounding in his chest. As he got closer, he couldn’t help but feel nervous, and he didn’t understand why. He can literally turn into a 15-meter titan, so why was this scaring him? He placed his hand on the trunk, the bark rough and moist under his fingers; with a few more cautious steps, he made his way around the tree. The other side finally came into view, and he now had a full picture of nothing but a small squirrel clinging onto the trunk staring at him. 

“Oh.” He sighed, and the squirrel climbed away. _My mind must be playing tricks on me._ He thought, but the hairs on the back of his neck still stood. As he took in his surroundings, his stomach began to ache. _Someone or something is watching_. He thought to himself. _No, that's ridiculous_. Eren shook his head, trying to convince himself that he was alone in the woods. But no matter what he thought, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. 

Meanwhile, Mikasa gazed back and forth from where Sasha was walking; bushes and shrubbery lined the forest's edge hugging the large trees. One tree, in particular, got her attention; it seemed to have a deep narrow gash in it as if someone had stabbed it with a knife. Her eyes followed the incision up the thick trunk of the dark-toned tree, hurting her neck as it was so tall. That was when she spotted it. 

Mikasa squinted her eyes to get a better view; there was something big and bulky hanging from one of the branches at the top of the tree. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand; they were warning her. It was going to fall. The realization dawned on her, but then a scarier realization shocked her when she saw that Sasha was standing directly below it. 

“SASHA!” Mikasa cried as she leaped from her horse and sprinted to an oblivious Sasha, who she tackled to the ground just in time before the carcass spattered directly next to them. 

“Ahhhh!” Jean cried. “That's disgusting!” 

“What is that?” Armin asked as he got down from his horse. 

“Are you okay?” Mikasa asked Sasha as she helped her up.

“Yes, thank you.” Sasha's voice cracked as she gratefully thanked her. 

“I think it's a deer,” Moblit stated. 

“It was a deer.” Connie corrected. 

“Wow, it was totally mauled,” Armin commented. “Look, something opened up its abdomen.” 

“It was probably a bear!” Jean stated. 

“Yeah, but how did it get all the way up there?” Armin asked. 

“This is certainly interesting.” Hange gazed back at the trail that led into the inferno mountains. “I'm sure it was just some psychopath playing around! I'm sure we're fine!” 

“Why did you do this?” Moblit asked. 

“What? Of course not. I would never do that to an animal! A shitty human, maybe. But not an animal!” Hange smiled. “Come on. We still have a ways to go before we reach the camping spot!” “Where’s Eren?” 

“Eren!” Armin called. 

“Eren!” Mikasa cried. 

Within a moment, voices filled the air as the group began Erens's name, trying to get his attention. After a few shouts, Eren emerged from the trees and walked over to them, his face slightly pale.

“Eren!” Mikasa smiled. 

“Eren, where did you go?” Hange asked. 

“Oh, I thought I saw something.” Eren scratched the back of his head. 

“And?” Jean questioned Eren as he lifted his eyebrows. 

“Nothing, it was just a squirrel. Ugh! What's that?” Eren asked, looking at what was left of the deer. 

“A dead deer,” Connie replied. “It almost killed Sasha.” 

“Oh, okay,” Eren stated. 

“Alright, we need to get a move on,” Hange stated as they got back on their horse and then proceeded to have their horse trot through the gate. Everyone mimicked Hange's motions and followed them through the gate, but with cation. They all had a sense of unease, something definitely wasn’t right, but they tried to ignore the feeling of dread they felt as they carried on. Either way, they all crossed the threshold into the Inferno Mountains.


	3. Chapter 3

As the group trotted through the green forest, their sense of uneasiness drifted away as they embraced the beautiful sights around them. The forest was truly enchanted. It was a lot less daunting and brighter once inside versus standing on the outside. The trees were rich and green, their large trunks providing a fun playground for squirrels to leap from branch to branch. A group of quiet deer skipped around the large trees before jumping over a shiny natural creek that flowed in next to the trail. 

The group trotted through the forest in a straight line. Only two horses could fit because the path was very narrow across. Hange was rambling to Moblit and Armin about a new titan experiment she was formulating at the front. Eren was taking in his surroundings, enjoying the trees, shade, and natural air conditioning. Mikasa was looking at Eren with big eyes; she nestled her face into her scarf. Jean, who was right behind Mikasa, wondered why she was still wearing a scarf in the middle of the summer; Sasha, who was right behind him, was chewing on a piece of meat she had bought. Connie in the back was counting the squirrels he saw. 

When the group neared the top of the mountains, a fork in the trail disrupted their way. 

“Alright, make sure you stay to the right! We want to go right, not left!” Hange chanted to the group.

“What's left?” Armin asked. 

“Oh, that's the way to the Ginsberg Castle,” Hange stated. “It's under MP control, so it's illegal to go there.” 

The entire group seemed to shudder at that statement. _Illegal_. That word buried itself into their minds. 

“Why is it illegal?” Eren asked. 

“I'm not entirely sure,” Hange said. “I did hear a rumor that some scouts went missing.” 

“How could they have gone missing?” Jean asked, although he knew about Sasha’s story. 

“I don’t know. It's an old Castle. Rumor has it. It's been there long before the walls were built. Anyway, I think the MPs don't want people to go there because it's ancient and dangerous.” Hange answered. 

“Do the MPs guard it?” Armin asked. 

“Not that I am aware of,” Hange stated. “But I think they have it fenced off. Either way, it's probably on the verge of collapsing.” “Oh, look, we’re here!”   
  
They finally reached their destination, and it made every single one of them drop their jaws to the ground. In front of them was a large waterfall that sparkled in the sunlight. It was about 12 feet in height and 26 feet in width, and it led gracefully into a teal blue medium-sized lake that looked deep enough to go cliff jumping. Grey Rocks and Boulders surrounded the area, making an almost perfect natural staircase to reach the top. Caves covered the lake's fare edge, and a small doc was near the border closest to them. A vibrant light green grass area covered the ground to the lake's right.

“Ehhh!” Sasha squealed. 

“Woah! Race you to the top, Sasha!” Connie cried as he jumped from his horse and began running to the waterfall, stripping himself of his clothes and letting them fall behind him. 

“Hey, no fair!” Sasha yelled after Connie. She kicked off her shoes before jumping from her horse and then proceeding to follow Connie, stripping herself of her outer clothes as she ran.

“Wait for me, guys!” Jean called after them as he followed them, removing his jacket vest. 

“Wow! This place is incredible!” Armin said his blue eyes stared at the beautiful sights in front of him.

“Wait until we see the ocean,” Eren smirked at Armin getting down from his horse. 

“Did you know this place existed?” Mikasa asked Hange. 

“I read accounts but never saw it. Wow! I kinda wish the two old men came with us; they might have loosened up for once.” Hange got off their horse, putting their goggles on top of their head. 

“Psh, Levi, and Erwin will probably have more fun by themselves,” Moblit commented, pulling out his flask from his shirt pocket and taking a drink. “This place sure is stress-relieving, though.”

Mikasa, Armin, and Eren took their horses and Connie, Sasha, and Jeans under a nearby tree near the lake to let them get some fresh water and rest. 

“Hey, Sasha! Watch this!” Connie shouted from the top of the waterfall, wholly stripped of clothes except for his underwear. Water rushed past his ankles as he leaned his hips back and then leaped out over the edge bringing his knees to his chest as his body plummeted down the length of the waterfall. “Cannonball!” He shouted until the splash of his jump-cut his voice off. 

Sasha, who had just reached the top, was running to the edge to observe the sight below.“Oooo!” Sasha’s eyes widened as she leaned over to watch the wave Connie left behind. 

The water gradually settles down as Connie emerged from the teal water with a grin from ear to ear. “That was awesome!” 

“Wow, Connie, I think you manage to make a large splash!” Hange shouted from the shore. 

“Hey, guys! Come on in! The water feels perfect!” Connie encouraged the group at the shore as he lifted his arms to swim back to the edge so he could jump off again. 

“Watch out from below!” Jean’s voice rang from the top just before he too jumped off the ledge.

“Wait, Jean, no!” Connie called, but it was too late, as Jean’s long body slammed right on top of Connie, pushing them both underwater and creating an insignificant splash

“Wow,” Both Armin and Mikasa winced as they made faces of pain watching the scene unfold before them.

Eren, on the other hand, was laughing, along with Hange. 

After a moment, the two boys came up tangled with one another. 

“Hey, you ruined my splash!” Jean shouted at Connie. 

“You landed on top of me!” Connie splashed water at Jean.   
  
“Better Luck next time Jean!” Hange cried.

“Are you guys okay?” Armin asked as he, Eren, and Mikasa began removing their outer clothes.

“Watch out from below!” Sasha called as she backed up to get a running start. “Ahhh!” Sasha screamed as she ran through the stream of water, and once she reached the edge, Sasha mimicked Connie by tucking her knees to her chest as she flew through the air. 

Connie and Jean watched as Sasha leaped entirely over them and then plummeted into the lake, making a bigger splash than either one combined. 

“Ahh!” Jean and Connie yelled as the wave that Sasha created crashed into them. After a moment, Sasha came up from the water with a big smile. 

“Hahaha!” Hange was laughing. “I think Sasha wins the big wave contest.” 

“Or does she!” Eren called from the top with a sinister smile on his face. Before anyone could process what was happening, Eren bit himself, turning into a (much smaller version) of his Titan form, and then created a large cannonball. The water completely shifted, a wave crashed over Connie, Jean, and Sasha, making each one of them gets shoved back a good ten feet. Mikasa and Armin lifted their arms from the top of the waterfall to cover their faces from the slash Eren created. Even Hange and Moblit, watching from the shore, felt the water rush over their knees. 

“Ahh!” Moblit cried as his shoes and pants got wet. 

“Eren!” Hange cried with excitement and dove face-first into the water to meet Eren's Titan form. 

From the base of the waterfall, Sasha, Connie, and Jean were laughing hysterically. Eren popped himself out of his 9-foot titan self and gazed down onto them. 

“How was that!” Eren cried as he jumped off into the water.

“No fair!” Sasha cried, but the tears in her eyes and the crack in her voice indicated that she wasn’t serious. 

Mikasa and Armin jumped in next to them. 

“Eren!” Mikasa lightly splashed water into his face. 

“I think you won,” Armin said as he trod water.

“Yeah yeah, you did.” Connie laughed. “Armin, please don’t get any ideas.” 

“Eren!” Hange cried as she swam to Eren's now evaporating Titan form. “Eren! That was! AMAZING!” She cried as she tackled Eren into the water. 

After everyone had a few more turns jumping off the waterfall, the group made their way to the mouth of the cave, where the water was more shallow so they could have chicken fights. 

“Come on, Connie, don’t give up on me!” Jean yelled from under Connie. He had Connie on his shoulders, who was in the middle of a nail-biting fight with Armin. 

“Armin, come on! Use your forearm strength!” Eren chanted from under Armin. 

“You’re going down, Titan boy!” Connie playfully shoved at one of Armin's shoulders as he used the other one to block Armin’s elbow. 

“Not unless you go down first!” Armin wiggled his shoulder out of the way of Connie's reach. 

“Armin, you can do it!” Mikasa yelled, watching from the sideline. 

“Connie, show him what you got!” Sasha yelled as she watched Armin and Connie's wet bodies tangle amongst themselves. Finally, Connie got the upper hand, and in a blink of an eye, Armin and Eren fell into the water with a big splash. 

“YES!” Conne and Jean shouted triumphantly. Jean reached his hand up, and Connie slammed his palm into Jeans, giving each other a high five. 

“I wanna go!” Hange shouted, jumping onto Moblit’s shoulders. “Let's see if you guys can take me!” 

Moblit walked through the water, and Jean and Connie got ready. 

“We will see about that Section Commander!” Connie smirked with confidence, “Jean and I are the champions so far.” 

“Not for much longer!” Hange challenged. 

Connie and Hange began wrestling, but the fight was over in moments as Hange got the upper hand by pressing up on Connie's shoulders, making Connie lose balance, causing the two to fall over. 

“Hahaha!” Hange smiled. “We have victory!” 

Moblit looked up at her with a smile, and the two high-fived. 

Hange gazed at Sasha and Mikasa. “Do you two want to try and beat us!!” 

“Yes,” Mikasa smirked and placed Sasha onto her shoulders. 

“Come on, Sasha!” Eren called. 

“You and Mikasa got this!” Armin called. 

“We believe in you!” Jean cheered with the rest.  
  
Mikasa walked over to Hange’s and Moblits determined faces. Mikasa had a determined smirk, but Sasha looked a little timid. Noticing this, Connie decided to motivate her. 

“Come on, Sasha! Hange is hiding meat from you!” 

At that statement, Sasha's demeanor completely changed as her face turned into that of a wild animal. “ERRRAH!” She cried as she jumped off of Mikasa's shoulders and onto Hange, knocking them into the water. 

“No, Sasha!” Connie shouted, and she and Jean were in the water within a moment pulling Sasha off of Hange. 

“Where is it! Where is it!” Sasha cried. 

“I lied; she doesn’t have any,” Connie stated. 

“Sorry, Sasha, I have none.” Hange smiled. 

“Awww.” Sasha cried, making everyone laugh. 

Later, when the sun went down, and the horses went to sleep, the group set their tents up with a campfire in the middle. Moblit and Hange were in one tent, Mikasa and Sasha in another, Jean and Connie, and then Eren and Armin. The group of eight were roasting meat and telling stories and jokes at the campfire. After the group had their tummies full, they retired for the night into their tents. 

Hange watched as everyone crawled into their tents. Although they hadn’t studied any planets yet, the group found themselves having fun. Hange suspected, from the beginning, that the young teenagers made an excuse to get away from their duties as Scouts for a couple of days, and Hange understood why; they were just kids. 

Kids, whom many have lost their parents and have had their closest friends betray them. Each one of these kids had significant responsibilities resting on their shoulders, so it made sense that they would want to get away to do something fun. Hange was just happy they could provide a fun opportunity for them. 

Later that night, while Hange and Moblit fell into a deep sleep, each one of these kids snuck out of their tents. They all walked out into the darkness of night to go somewhere that was illegal to go. 


	4. Chapter 4

Erwin glanced out of his window while he waited for the water to boil. He watched as Hange’s loud form led Levi’s eager Squad out of the stables and out of sight. The Kettle made a screaming noise indicating that its water was ready, so Erwin walked over to it and poured hot water into a teapot with loose leaf tea. While waiting for the tea to sit, he gazed from the counter back over to the bed where a small body laid sleeping under the covers. _Levi._ He smiled to himself as he admired the small but mighty soldier. 

Levi and Erwin started having Romantic feelings for each other many years ago, but since they were in a war against man-eating monsters, neither spoke of it. The tension between them was always in the air but never acted upon. Sometimes their feelings were hinted at during their workdays. Erwin would often let his hands linger a moment too long on Levi’s when passing reports. When Erwin or Levi walked into the same room, the two would often make immediate eye contact and hold each other's gaze for a moment longer than people normally do. The tension between them would be especially high when they would adjust each other's gear, hands carefully grazing each other's bodies making their cheeks turn pink. Levi was always by Erwin's side. He was there when Erwin would stay up late doing paperwork, sitting with him in his office late into the night long after everyone went to bed. Levi was by his side charging into battle against titans, unsure if the other would live. Most importantly, Levi was by Erwin's side when he lost his arm. For the first time in their six years of friendship, Erwin saw Levi almost cry. 

“I can’t lose you too.” Levi nearly cried to Erwin, resting his hand on top of Erwin's last good arm.

They kissed for the first time after that and then never spoke of it again until the day came to take back Wall Maria and Levi ran off to kill the beast titan. Erwin had two last options; if the first didn’t work, he and the scouts would have to go charge to their deaths. Luckily the first option worked, and Erwin, along with most of the Scouts, survived. Levi had the beast, Titan, running for his life, and although the beast, Renier, and the cart titan got away, Armin inherited the Colossal. Then they retook the wall and discovered the truth. Suddenly, things seemed to be less scary, and the threat of death became less present.

When they finally returned home, It wasn’t even a full minute after Erwin closed the door to their shared quarters that Levi had jumped into Erwin's arm and pressed his lips against the other. And they were hungry for touch. Neither of them knew how, but suddenly, their clothes were off, and Erwin was claiming Levi as his and only his. The best part of the night was what came afterward when they were lying side by side, and he and Levi began laughing. That was when Erwin saw him smile, the biggest, most sincere smile he had ever seen. Ever since then they were together, they kept it a secret, although some people had their suspensions. But it didn’t matter what people thought. What mattered was they finally had each other. That particular morning Erwin awoke before Levi, which normally didn’t happen as Levi had problems sleeping and preferred to sleep in a chair. Recently, Erwin had been convincing Levi to sleep in the bed with him, and those nights were when Levi slept the best.

After a few minutes of watching Levi’s sleeping form, guilt crept over Erwin as he realized it was time to wake him. Erwin poured the black tea into a teacup and walked over to Levi's side, where he sat down, placed the teacup on the bed stand, and began slowly brushing his fingers through Levi’s hair and down his shoulder. 

“Mmm,” Levi mumbled before sitting up. “What's going on?” 

“Good morning.” Erwin smiled as he handed Levi the tea. 

Levi, still confused, looked up at Erwin. His hair was in all directions, and his eyes foggy. Erwin smiled because only he had the pleasure to see Humanity's Strongest Soldier in such a vulnerable state. 

“Oh, Erwin. Good Morning.” Levi lifted his slender hands to his eyes to rub the sleep out of them. After he was wide enough awake, he took the tea that Erwin was offering him. “Thank you.” He muttered softly. 

“You’re squad has already left with Hange. You and I will have to get a move on soon if we are to make it to the banquet in time.” 

“Oh great, let's feed the pigs,” Levi said, taking small sips from his Tea. 

Erwin couldn’t help but chuckle, “That's one way to put it, but if we are to make it to the ocean, we will need some of their funding.” 

“And then maybe the brats can finally shut up about it,” Levi muttered. 

Erwin smiled. “Aren’t you curious as to what it looks like?” 

Levi sighed, he wanted to tell Erwin no, but he knew that would be a lie, so instead, he nodded. “I'll admit it I am.” 

Erwin placed his hand on top of Levis and used his thumb to gently stroke his knuckles. “Thank you for coming with me, and I know these events make you uncomfortable. I'll make it up to you in the next few days, and we will actually have some time alone with your squad on their retreat.” 

“And without four-eyes getting in our face about some new titan experiment.” 

Erwin laughed again. “Yeah, it will be extra quiet, won’t it.” “I do hope they enjoy themselves, though. We are all in need of a mental health break.” 

Levi put his cup down and crawled into Erwin’s lap. “I hope they do too. They do deserve it.” Levi leaned up and kissed Erwin's nose. “And so do you.” 

Erwin wrapped one arm around Levi’s waist to bring the smaller man closer. “Well, I'm sure these next few days will be good for all of us then.” He said as he gave Levi a tender morning kiss. 

After Breakfast, the two rode into Mitras to where the MP Banquet was happening. Erwin and Levi attended it in their uniforms and watched as all the nobles and rich people strolled in to donate money to the Military police. Queen Historia offered a room for Levi and Erwin to spend the night in so they could enjoy the banquet and not have to leave so soon. 

Levi and Erwin watched as Nobleman Nobleman walked into the gala's doors, followed by Military police. 

“We reclaim Wall Maria, and all we get is a pat on the shoulder; the military police bust a lousy gang, and they get all of this,” Levi muttered so only Erwin could hear. 

“Well, they did invite your squad,” Erwin replied even though he couldn’t help but agree with Levi. It was pretty ridiculous that they had to ask Nile to spare some of his funding so they could go on an expedition to the ocean.

“Haha. Could you imagine my squad here? They barely know how to behave themselves as it is they would surely embrace themselves beyond belief.” 

Erwin smirked, “Yes, but that is what makes them charming, isn’t it.” 

“One could say that.” 

“Commander Erwin, Captain Levi!” Came the booming voice of Zackly walking up with three noblewomen dressed in big dresses and big hairdos. “I am so happy you made it.” 

“It's a pleasure Supreme Commander.” Erwin praised Zackly. “Who are these lovely ladies with you?” 

“Commander Erwin, may I present to you Noblemen Garther, Hanns, and McDaniels wives, Tristen, Kaira, and Bri.” 

“Commander Erwin Smith at your service.” Erwin bowed. 

“Hello, Commander.” Tristen held out her hand and hid her face behind her fan. 

Erwin took her hand and kissed it, making the two other noblewomen giggle at each other. “I do have to say.” Erwin began to charm her. “I never could imagine Nobleman Garther to have such a beautiful wife, and I surely didn’t think he had it in him.” Erwin winked, making the girls giggle some more.

“He really is Commander Handsome.” Levi heard one of them say to the other. He wanted to roll his eyes as aggressively and obnoxiously as he could, but he didn’t because he knew that the Scouts desperately needed their money. 

“And who is this?” The Noblewoman Kiara asked about Levi. 

“Ah yes, Ladies, may I present to you Humanity's Strongest Soldier, Captain Levi.” Erwin put his hand on Levi’s back. 

“The Captain Levi!” Bri asked. 

“Hi,” Levi said, trying to be as nice as possible. 

“Wow, he is so much shorter than I imagined!” One of the noblewomen stated. 

Zackly made a face. Erwin resisted the urge to smack his forehead, and Levi’s face turned whiter than it already was. 

“I know he is so cute!” Kiara stated as she leaned forward and pinched one of Levi’s cheeks. 

_I hate this. I hate this. I hate this!_ Erwin swore he could hear Levi's thoughts. 

“Look at how tiny his face is!” Tristen laughed as she ruffled his hair. “How come you are so small, Captain?” 

“I was dropped as a child.” Levi hid his furry, very well, to Erwin’s surprise. Levi reached up and took Triten's hand to stop her from petting him politely. 

“I have to say, Commander, I am very impressed at the Scouts' ability to reclaim the wall and discover the truth. I'm sure your next goal is just as ambitious.” 

“You could say that, right now, and we are trying to reach the edge of the known land. Apparently, there is a body of water not too far from here that stretches as far as the eye can see.” 

“The ocean. That would be some sight to see. I hear you are a little low on funds.” 

“Unfortunately, yes.” Erwin pleaded. 

“Well, I am sure we can get our husbands to donate something.” Tristen winked to Erwin. “Right, girls.” 

“Yes.” The others nodded and giggled. 

“Now, if you excuse us, we have to go find our husbands.” Tristen smiled. 

“Yes, of course, it was a pleasure.” Erwin bowed once more. 

“Bye Bye Commander. Levi.” Tristen nodded to Levi as she left. 

“By Levi!” Kiara patted him on the head. 

“Bye, Humanities strongest!” Bri ruffled his hair as she passed by him. 

“Well, Gentlemen, I have to go find Commander Pixis. I will see you soon.” Zackly stated as he politely excused himself. 

Levi watched as the noblewomen disappeared into the crowd. “How do you think they would feel to know that you took it up the ass last night,” Levi asked Erwin. 

“Levi!” Erwin warned. 

Levi turned and looked at Erwin. “Yes, I know, we need their money.” 

“Yes, that and...” Erwin leaned down so only Levi could hear him. “Usually, the roles are reversed, and you know it.” 

Levi pushed Erwin away from him. “Hey!” 

Erwin found himself chuckling because he could see that the pink flush on Levi’s cheeks meant he was embarrassed. “What, it’s true, isn’t it.” 

“Whatever, I am gonna go see if I can find some tea at this lousy party.” Levi then aggressively stormed off, leaving Erwin chuckling as he could still see Levi’s pink flustered cheeks. 

Erwin continued to flirt with noblewomen while Levi grabbed himself some tea at the end of the food buffet line. He picked out a brew of black Tea and slowly started drinking it to compose himself. He gazed over and watched Erwin flirt once more with more noblewomen. Levi knew that it was for the Scouts and that Erwin in no way, shape, or form had any feelings towards any of them, but Levi couldn’t help but feel jealous and out of place. 

Many of these Nobles saw Levi as Erwin's pet rather than his subordinate, which made Levi’s blood boil. Erwin also hated how the noblemen would look at Levi, Erwin would tell him later that Levi meant so much more to him than he could ever imagine, but Levi still couldn’t help but feel that Erwin was using him sometimes. Erwin knew that Levi had a deep attachment to him, and Levi suspected that Erwin would abuse that to get Levi to do his dirty work. 

Levi shook his head. Maybe sometimes that was true, but Erwin did genuinely care about him. He knew that he did. 

“Well, if it isn’t the thug from the underground.” Levi shuddered; he knew that voice from anywhere. When he turned around, his suspensions were proven correct as Nile Dok, Commander of the military police, stood in front of him looking as crusty as ever with his wife Marie by his side. 

“Hello Nile,” Levi stated. “I see you still haven’t learned how to use a razor.” 

Nile's eyes widened, and Marie covered her mouth to hide her laugh. 

“It's Commander Dok to you, Captain. I am surprised that Erwin lets you run around with that mouth of yours, considering that you are only here to beg for money, right?” Nile shot back. 

“Nile!” Marie jabbed Nile in the rib cage with her elbow. “Show some respect. Captain Levi helped train the boy you wanted to kill! Who ended up saving humanity.” 

“Ugh, it was a lucky guess. I still think that Jaeger kid is a loose cannon, and the rest of his friends aren’t much better; they're all a bunch of intolerable freaks if you ask me.” 

Levi felt his blood boil as he clenched his jaw and tightened his fist. _How dare he talk about my squad? That why._ He thought to himself.

“Now listen here, you bastard!” Levi grabbed Niles bolo tie making Nile bend down to eye level. “You can insult Erwin and me all the fuck you want but don't you dare insult MY squad; they are better trained and loyal than any of your filthy MPs ever could be! They’ve done nothing but risk their lives so you and your stupid pig friends could sit around and bully civilians while drinking at lousy parties! My squad may not be perfect, but they would never do anything as intolerable or as illegal as the MPs would do, and unlike you, they actually care about the people they serve!” And with that, Levi let go of Niles bolo tie, making Nile pop up aggressively. 

“Alright, listen here, you little runt, I'm going to…” Nile began but was cut off by an older voice. 

“Commander Dok, Marie, Captain Levi, it's such a pleasure to see you.” Commander Pixis said, walking up to them side by side with Zackley and Erwin. 

“Commander Pixis, Supreme Commander Zackly, Erwin, hello!” Nile stated, reverting to a calm and collected voice. He plastered a fake smile onto his face. “It is such a pleasure all of you could be here tonight!” 

“Why, thank you Nile. We were just discussing with Erwin about his plans for the scouts.” Zackely began as he placed a hand on Erwin’s shoulder. 

“A plan, what plan?” Nile innocently asked. 

“This man wants to stretch the scouts out as far out as the sea!” Pixis smiled, taking a drink from his flask. 

“Oh, the ocean, isn’t that ambitious?” Nile asked. 

“Yes, but we are seeing fewer and fewer titans each time we head out of the walls. We have reason to believe we are killing them all, and as you gentlemen know, since we live on an island, we want to make sure we’ve done just that,” Erwin stated as he walked over to Levi, who he couldn’t help but notice was glaring at Nile. 

“Well, that sounds like a great idea.” Marie smiled. 

“Yes, my dear, it is.” Pixis smiled. “But he needs the funds, and we were wondering, Nile, since you don’t need all those funds you just received if you could spare some for the scouts.” 

“Well…” The Nile gazed at Pixis, Zackly, and Erwin's friendly faces, then to the beading eyes of Levi. He sighed. “I suppose I could.” 

“Wonderful!” Pixis smiled. 

“Thank you so much, Nile.” Erwin smiled. “I greatly appreciate it.” 

After about another hour of talking, Erwin and Levi politely excused themselves from the small group of Commanders. 

“Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure, but Levi and I have some more paperwork to do tonight.” Erwin smiled. “Marie, it was wonderful seeing you again. Love to the kids.” Erwin hugged Marie, and she kissed Erwin's cheek. 

“It's always good seeing you, Erwin.” Marie smiled. 

“Levi.” Nile stared at Levi. 

“Nile.” Levi gave him a much more aggressive stare. 

“Wait, Levi, I forgot to ask where your squad is. I would very much love to speak with Eren and personally thank each one of them,” Pixis asked.

Levi and Erwin glanced at each other before Erwin spoke. “They are on a mental health retreat in the inferno mountains with Section Commander Hange.” 

“Ah yes, I'm sure they are having a much-needed vacation,” Zackly stated. 

“Yes, they don’t want to hang around with a bunch of old farts like us!” Pixis joked before taking another drink from his flask. 

“Nile isn’t that devil castle in the inferno mountains,” Marie asked, and Nile jumped up. 

“Excuse me?” Zackly raised an eyebrow. 

“Ahhh, what, my darling?” Nile asked nervously. 

Marie innocently glanced at Nile. “That Castle where some of the recruits have gone exploring from time to time, the one that you said some of your soldiers have gone....’” 

“Ahhh dat dat dat.” Nile cut her off. “What Marie is talking about is the Ginsberg Castle.” 

Erwin and Levi glanced at each other. “That place hasn’t fallen apart yet?” Levi asked. 

“No, not yet, but it is hazardous, so I have it fenced off completely. But some of my soldiers like to go there because supposedly it's… haunted.” Nile hesitated. 

_Oh shit_. Levi thought to himself, and Erwin instantly glanced at Levi as if he heard his thoughts. 

“Ha! The kids and their stories!” Zackly laughed. 

“Yes, stories.” Nile nervously stated. 

After the second round of goodbyes, Levi and Erwin began the walk back to their room. Erwin gazed down at Levi as he could feel stress radiating off of him. 

“Thank you for coming, Levi,” Erwin stated. “I know that was difficult for you.” 

“It's fine,” Levi muttered out a quick response. 

Erwin wasn’t satisfied as he could still feel the stress bouncing off of Levi, so he decided to pry. “Are you okay, Levi?” 

“Never been better.” 

“What's wrong?” 

“Nothing Erwin! I was just having the time of my life being your pet and listening to my squad get dragged around in the mud!” Levi blurted out. 

Erwin glanced down at Levi, he did feel bad about how those Noblewomen were treating him, but he never heard anyone taunt his squad. “Levi, you’re not my pet. I…” 

“I know Erwin. I'm not mad at you.” Levi sighed. “I'm just upset. Nile said some things about my squad, and I got angry.” 

Erwin looked down at Levi with sorrow in his eyes. They had reached their room, and Erwin pulled out their key. “I'm sorry to hear that. I noticed that you seemed upset when we met up with you.” 

“He called them freaks, Erwin. And called Eren a loose cannon.” Levi sadly stated. “They don’t deserve that. They lost their friends; Armin almost died.” 

Erwin opened the door. “Well, it's a good thing Nile wasn’t alone when he said that.” 

“I still called the bastard a pig,” Levi said, following Erwin into the room, 

“Good, he deserved it. Wow, it really pays to be friends with the queen, doesn’t it.” 

The room they were in was large, and it had two full-size beds, armchairs, and a beautiful bathroom with a large bath and velvet sheets and curtains. Historia had their bags brought to the room, which looked small and out of place compared to the room's luxury. 

“I'm gonna take a bath,” Levi stated. 

“Okay, take your time.” Erwin took off his jacket. 

After Levi finished bathing himself, he put on his nightclothes and walked out to see Erwin sitting on one of the beds reading. Levi crawled onto the bed next to Erwin and curled up against his rib cage, laying his head on Erwin's muscular chest, listening for his heartbeat to remind himself that Erwin was still alive. Waves of tiredness washed over Levi as he felt himself dozing off.

Erwin put his book down and wrapped his arm in the small of his back. “It's funny how they gave us two beds,” Erwin observed as he used his one good arm to massage the nade of Levi’s neck.

“Mmmmm,” Levi purred, “They should have given us one and a chair. It's like the queen brat herself wasn’t in my squad.” 

“Well, she has tea set out for you.” Erwin smiled. 

“Tsh,” Levi responded. 

Later that night, Levi and Erwin shared precious moments in the bed together, and then they laid naked in each other's arms. Erwin fell asleep rather quickly, but Levi found himself awake. He sat up and continued stroking Erwins hair as he gazed out onto the almost full moon peeking through the window. Something felt off, he couldn’t put his mind on it, but something felt wrong. He kept thinking back about how Nile seemed nervous when Marie mentioned the castle. 

Levi gazed off into the horizon, where he could see the inferno mountains peaking up above the inner wall. He thought about his squad and how they should be asleep right now in those mountains. _But what if those brats decided to go?_ He thought to himself. He shook his head and tried not to think of it. _I'm sure they're fine_. It was his final thought before he fell asleep in Erwin's arm. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Section Commander, do you have to keep watch while I pee?” Moblit embarrassingly cried from his position at a tree a few meters away from the campsite. 

“Hahahaha! Oh, come on now, Moblit! It's more fun to go together, and I had to pee too!” Hange laughed, but Hange wasn’t peeing; they were investing some odd footprints found.

“Errr, can you at least cover your ears! I don’t like it when people hear me!” Moblit cried.

“Moblit, look at this!” Hange ran over to Moblit, who was still in the process of peeing. 

“Good God, Hange a little privacy! Please!” Moblit’s face was red with embracement. 

“Are you done yet? This is important!” Hange grabbed onto his arms. 

“Errrr, fine, I'm done! What is it!” 

“Look at these!” Hange pushed Moblit's head down. 

“The footprints.” 

“Yes! But don’t they seem strange to you!” 

“They are human. All of us were running around today in our underwear. They seem pretty normal.” 

“That's what I thought, but look! They are too long and wide to be any of ours, and they seem to end at this tree!” Hange shoved Moblit to the tree. “And look, there are gashes that go up this tree, so this person climbed up this tree!” 

“Ahhh, that is kinda odd,” Moblit said. “Well, those are probably old.” 

“No, they're not! They couldn’t have been a day old. This thing was here last night! So it's probably still…” Hange went silent. They began to look around the way a dog looks around when it hears a squirrel. 

“Section Commander what…” 

“Shh!” Hange shushed Moblit. 

Moblit and Hange became real still as they listened through the night. Frogs croaked in the nearby lake, and crickets chirped, then the wind blew through the air, then there was a breath. Hange and Moblit could hear the faint sound of someone breathing hard over the wind. Hange focused their eyes to see into the dark forest. It was almost pitch black as the brush was so light it blocked out the moonlight. But the small amounts of light that did manage to break through created faint silhouettes of trees and leaves. Leaning in closer to one particular trunk, Hange saw a faint outline of a man standing behind it. The man's chest was rising and falling to the breaths that Hange and Moblit heard. 

“WHOSE THEIR!” Hange barked as she popped up, grabbing a nearby rock and throwing it in the direction of the shadow. 

The shadow slithered behind the tree. 

“COME OUT AND FACE ME!” Hange cried before charging towards the shadow. 

“Section Commander!” Moblit cried as he ran after her. 

“DO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST COME HERE AND…” Hange stopped once she reached the tree. “Huh?” 

There was no one there. 

“Section Commander, there's nothing here. We’re alone up here.” Moblit huffed. 

“Huh, I guess it was just my mind.” Hange adjusted her glasses. “No! I saw something I just…” 

Moblit and Hange stopped and looked around because, in the distance, they heard screaming. Teenage screams. And the screams sounded all too familiar to them. The two looked at each other and took off running towards their campsite. 

**Earlier**

Deep in the Inferno Mountains, three small gas lanterns light the narrow path as a group of six teenagers walked eagerly toward the old Ginsberg Castle. They were silent the first half of the way because they didn’t want to wake their superiors. But as they continued down the path, chatter broke out amongst them. 

“Guys, I'm still not sure of this. What if we get caught!” Sasha pleaded, grabbing her shawl for comfort, her eyes wide and anxious among her shadowed face.

“Good thing we are better at running than MPs,” Mikasa stated, looking straight ahead without a hint of fear in her posture.

“I’m actually with Sasha on this.” Eren sighed as he leaned in towards the group. “If we get caught, the Captain will never let us go on a retreat again.” 

“Of course, you would say that,” Jean mocked. “Just say you're scared, and we can call off the bet now.” 

Eren felt his blood boil, his cheeks turned red, and his hands ball up into a fist. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Jean Boy!” Eren ripped a lantern straight out of Armin's hand and charged to the front. “We'll see who’s scared soon!” 

Within a few more moments of walking, the group finally came to the end of the path, where the forest parted open, revealing a dark structure in front of them. The almost full moon's light shined down on top of it, showing an old grey square structure with sharp edges and two towers standing on either side. A broken circular stained glass window sat directly in between the buildings. Outlining its triangle roof were long narrow balconies where statues sat. Statues of what appeared to be humanoid figures with bat wings whose faces were cursed with horrid facial expression

The group gazed with wide eyes at the terrifying fortress. And after a moment of observation, Armin realized he recognized the familiar sharp edges and curves that decorated the building. “It's not a castle. It's a Cathedral,” Armin commented. 

“A what?” Connie asked. 

“A place of worship. It was probably built by the wall cult. It is kinda odd that's its way up here, but I guess if they wanted to worship the wall without judgment, this is a place to do it.” Armin pondered out loud. 

The Cathedral was surrounded by a poorly designed 3-foot wooden fence that the group quickly scaled even without ODM gear. As they got closer and closer to the Cathedral, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease as they walked into its shadow that hung over the ground the way someone would throw their cape in the air to disappear. The moon was not full yet, but it still created enough light to outline the dark grey structure in front of them. 

Sasha watched as one of the statues gazed down upon them. It had gnashing teeth and leathered skin. Unlike the others, this one had no wings but had claws that clung to the side of the building. It leaned over with a permanent scowl as its eyes seemed to follow them. These eyes gazed at them, hungry. It watched them like an animal watched its prey, broad and focused, waiting for the moment its target let its guard down so it could tear its hearts out and then devour them. “Ehhhh,” Sasha whined. 

“It's just a statue, Sasha,” Mikasa said, sensing her uneasiness. 

“Okay, so here are the ground rules.” Connie began. “Both of you have to stay inside the Cathedral for a whole hour at least. If both of you can survive that hour, then we will call the whole thing a draw. You are more than welcome to explore it, but none of us will be inside with you, and you both have to stay apart from each other as far as you can. You can’t bring in any lights, and if either of you tries to cheat by scaring the other, you both lose!” 

Jean and Eren looked at each other. Both had a sense of unease about the whole deal as the Cathedral up close looked a lot more unwelcoming. But due to pride, neither of them wanted to redraw, so they both locked eyes and said, “deal.” 

Armin, Mikasa, Connie, and Sasha watched as the two ventured inside the Cathedral, disappearing into its darkness. 

“Now what?” Mikasa asked. 

“I guess we wait,” Connie stated. “Armin, are you timing it.” 

“Yes,” Armin stated. “Once this candle reaches this string, it will be an hour.” 

“This place is a lot more chilling than I expected,” Mikasa stated, crossing her arms. 

“Well, Cathedrals were purposely built to be daunting. The idea was to make people confess their wrongdoings, so if you create a building that can not only be considered holy but intimating, you can create the perfect gothic church,” Armin responded.

Mikasa nodded. 

Sasha continued to inspect the statues that were each different, unique, and utterly horrifying. One figure, in particular, caught her attention because it appeared to stare directly at them. Sasha could feel its hungry hollow eyes stare at them, making her uneasy. To reduce this feeling, she looked down at the ground instead of hoping to calm her nerves.

Inside the Cathedral, Eren and Jean stared at the tall, sharp columns on either side of a large open space. Stained Glass stretched to the ceiling that was three-story above the pew-littered floor. 

“Ugh, this place is so dirty!” Jean complained as he patted at a spider web he collided with. 

“I know, right. Captain Levi would lose his shit if he saw this place.” Eren agreed. 

Jean took a seat on one of the pews. The moonlight shined through the stained glass windows making the benches light up with silver, red, purple, and gold light. “You know, if this place weren’t so dirty, it would be quite beautiful,” Jean stated, almost surprised at the words that left his mouth. 

“Yeah, it would be,” Eren said as he walked to a nearby staircase. 

“Hey, where are you going?” Jean asked. 

“We can't be near each other, remember! Plus, I'm going to take a look around!” 

“Upstairs! This place is falling apart! It probably will collapse while you're up there!” 

“Pshh! What do you care!” Eren sassed as he disappeared behind one of the columns. 

“Whatever suicidal Maniac!” Jean shouted from the pew. 

“Horseface,” Eren muttered as he walked up the stairs. 

The hour went on. Mikasa, Armin, Connie, and Sasha felt themselves getting bored outside the Cathedral. Boredom replaced the eerie feeling they once had as they sat outside, almost falling asleep. Eren wandered the halls but found himself losing interest quickly. Jean kept trying to stay awake. The entire Cathedral seemed quiet.

Jean, who was about to fall asleep, felt himself suddenly shiver as the air around him turned cold. “Hmm,” Jean muttered as he opened his eyes. He could correctly see the stage from where he sat, and a sizeable broken organ covered the back wall. Directly in front of the organ was a white figure that appeared to b examining it. 

Jean closed his eyes again. “Eren, what the fuck are you doing?” He asked. But when he got no response, he opened his eyes and sat straight up. “Eren, seriously, you’re gonna break the whole…” Jean froze; he felt the blood rush out of his face, his palms turn cold, and his eyes widened wider than he ever thought possible. Jean experienced these sensations because the person who stood on the stage was not Eren but a girl. A girl about his age, with black hair and dressed in all white. But what horrified Jean the most was the fact that he could see through her. She was transparent.

“Ahhhh.” Jean felt beads of sweat fall down his forehead. Jean immediately knew what he was seeing, and he could not believe it. 

The girl then stood up and turned around. She gazed at him. Her slender white face looked almost blurry as her entire form seemed to have a fog shape. She held out her small hand and brought a transparent finger to her translucent face. “Shhh!” She said and then calmly walked off the stage and behind one of the columns. 

Jean, still frozen and confused at what he just saw, made a rash decision to follow her. “Wait!” He called as he got up and ran after the ghost that just haunted him. 

“Ugh! This is so boring!” Connie shouted. “How much more time do they have?” Connie asked Armin. 

“Not too much longer,” Armin stated. “I would say maybe ten minutes.” 

“Well, it goes to show the Military Police get so bored they have to make up rumors to keep themselves occupied,” Mikasa said. 

“It would appear that way,” Armin added.

“Ahh!” Sasha cried, then flopped face down into the dirt. “Why didn’t we bring any food!” 

“Sorry Sasha, I guess we didn’t think ahead,” Connie said from his position next to her with his cheek resting in his hand. 

Connie, Mikasa, and Armin continued talking, but Sasha froze as she heard something. She began to listen more intently to see if she recognized what was making the noise she heard. 

“Sh sh!” She silenced her friends, and they all stopped talking as she continued to listen. 

Connie broke the silence. “Sasha what..” 

“SHHHHH!” Sasha shushed him more aggressively. 

Connie raised his hands. 

After a few more moments of silence, Sasha spoke up. “I hear… I hear scratching.” 

“Scratching. Don’t you think it's just an animal?” Armin asked. 

“No!” Sasha spoke. “I've never heard of anything like this.” 

“Maybe a rabid animal?” Connie suggested. 

Before anyone could say something, a sound came deep from in the forest. A sound so horrid it put instant fear into each of them.

“AHHHHHIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” A blood-curdling scream rang through the air. 

And at that moment, Mikasa, Armin, Connie, and Sasha all huddle next. Their heartbeats were pounding fast in their eardrums. Sasha began muttering fear noises, Connie started to shake, and Armin grabbed Mikasa’s arm. 

“What. What was that?” Armin asked the question everyone was too afraid to ask. 

Mikasa, who usually is never afraid of anything, even felt her heart pound a few extra beats. 

“Guys, I have never heard that sound before.” Sasha timidly stated. 

“Maybe, maybe we should go get Jean and Eren and leave.” 

“Hmmm, hmm!” They all nodded and then proceeded to run into the Cathedral. 

“Wait!” Eren heard Jean's voice echo through the Cathedral. 

_What the fuck does he want._ Eren thought as he began to walk back downstairs to where he heard Jeans cry. 

“Hello!” He heard Jean's voice got closer. “Who are you!” He heard him again. 

Eren finally found Jean banging his shoulder on a large wooden locked door near the back of the Cathedral. “What do you want!” Jean yelled as he slammed his shoulder against the door once more. 

“Hey, horse face!” Eren called out to Jean. 

Jean stopped and looked at him. 

“What are you doing? You’re going to make the place collapse.” Eren sassed Jean with a smirk. 

“Did you see her!” Jean cried. 

“Her? Who the fuck are you talking about?” Eren called. 

“The ghost girl! There was a girl on the stage. Did you not see her!” Jean yelled. 

“Jean, ghosts aren’t real! I know you're desperate to…” 

“She was there! I saw her!” Jean yelled and grabbed Eren's shirt. 

Eren gave him a look and then shoved Jean off of him. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Armin, Connie, Sasha, and Mikasas' voices echoing throughout the cathedral, calling out to them. 

“Jean! Eren!” Armin called. 

“Guys, we heard a scream. We’re leaving. Let's go!” Connie stated once the group met up with each other. 

“Not you guys too!” Eren put his arms on his hips. 

Sasha grabbed Eren's arm. “Eren, I have never heard a scream like that in my entire life. It was real. There is something evil about this place.” 

Eren looked at Mikasa and Armin, and he noticed the slight uneasiness in Mikasa's face and the utter fear in Armin's. “Not you guys as well.” 

“Eren, this place isn’t safe,” Mikasa stated. 

“Something doesn’t want us here,” Armin added. 

“Guys calm down ghosts aren’t….” A loud sound cut Eren off. 

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_ The door jerked forward with each bang, and the group could have sworn they heard a devilish growl from behind it. 

“EHHHH!” Sasha screamed before running away. 

“That’s it! I'm out of here!” Connie called over the banging and then chased after Sasha.

“That's it! I'm leaving!” Jean yelled over the noise and then fled after the others. 

“Eren! Let's go!” Armin yelled at Eren, who was in too much shock at what he saw to move. 

“Eren!” Mikasa yelled, grabbing his arm to bring him back to reality. The three then found themselves running. 

The group ran out of the Cathedral screaming. All of them were too busy running for their lives that no one noticed how the statue, whose eyes would follow, was no longer in its spot. 

“Why are we doing this?” A male M.P. by the name of Barb sighed. He slumped back on his horse and gazed up that the tall trees. 

“Because Commander Dok ordered us too.” A female M.P. with short brown hair by the name of Nara replied. She looked back from her position at the front to take a glance at her team. Her team of six were all struggling to stay awake as they buried themselves in their cloaks. Their lanterns were outlining the two horses that were tugging a cart with supplies.

“He's never asked us or anyone to do it before, so why tonight?” Henry, a black-haired MP, asked. 

“It's a little odd.” Jeremy sighed. 

“Yeah, I can’t believe we had to leave the banquet for this!” Teresa shrieked, crossing her arms. 

“Enough!” Nara stated. “The commander asked us to guard the Ginsberg Castle for the next three days, and that's what we will do!” 

“But no one ever goes up there!” Barb whined as the castle came into view. “That place is old and dusty. No one has been up there since….” 

Barb was cut off by the sound of teenagers screaming, and he and his subordinates watched as six kids ran out of the Cathedral, hopped over the fence, and ran out of sight. 

“Well, there's your answer,” Nara stated. 

Hange and Moblit were already waiting for the horrified group at the campsite.

“What is going on?” Hange asked, adjusting their glasses to better look at the group of teenagers who came running and screaming into their campsite like titans were chasing them. 

“Hange Hange Hange!” Connie yelled. 

“Section Commander, you wouldn’t believe what we just ran into!” Armin shouted. 

“Guys, what happened? What's going on..” Hange asked but was utterly confused by the loud shrieking and explaining that everyone was doing at a time. “QUIET!” Hange yelled to get them to stop talking. “Okay now, will someone please explain to me what's going on!” 

Armin walked forward. “Okay, so we went to the Gansberg Cathedral.” 

“You mean Castle,” Moblit asked. 

“No, it's a Cathedral. It was the reason why we wanted to come here in the first place. Jean and Eren had a bet to see who could stay in there the longest. But when we were there, we heard the loudest scream ever. Sasha couldn’t identify, and then we heard growling, and a door was banging as if someone or something was trying to open it and…” 

“Wait!” Hange cut them off. “Are you telling me you may have seen ghosts?” 

Armin nodded. “I know it sounds stupid, but..” 

“STUPID WHAT NO! This changes everything! WE have to go back there! Tell me everything that you saw! WOW, this is incredible. I can’t believe it!” Hange jumped with excitement. 

“You’re not mad?” Connie asked. 

“Why would I be mad? Proof that ghost exists is huge!” Hange smiled. 

“Stop!'' A loud voice echoed through the night as a group of MPs circled the camp with horses. Their Lanterns light up the campsite.

“What the..” Connie muttered.

“Who are you?” Moblit asked. 

“What the hell is going on here!” Hange asked. 

“These six are under arrest for trespassing.” Nara jumped off her horse. 

“Trespassing, since when do you MPs care about the Ginsberg Castle?” Hange asked. 

“We have orders from Commander Dok for the next few days to guard the castle,” Nara stated. 

“This is ridiculous!” Hange shouted. "We are Scouts on a retreat, can't you just let this slide. Don't your MPs come up here like every other week." 

Nara sighed. "Under normal circumstances, I would, but Commander Dok was very strict about it. If you have an issue with this, you will have to take it up with the Commander himself." 

"Why does he care now, though!" Connie asked. 

"We have no clue," Teresa stated. "We were all at a banquet earlier, and then out of nowhere, he came to our squad leader and gave her orders." 

"Hey, wait for a second; I recognize you guys," Henery stated. He looked at Eren. "You're Eren Jeager, and the rest of you are Captain Levi's Squad." "Hey, thanks for saving Wall Maria; we hate to do this, but we have to arrest you." 

Armin sighed. "It's okay." 

Henry and Jeremy lead the group into the cart. 

“You three stay here and guard the Castle, Terisa, and I will take them back to Metras.” Nara then turned to Hange. “I'm sorry about this; if it were up to me, I wouldn't do this.” 

Hange nodded as they watched the groups leave. “Moblit, this is surely odd, the footprints, the carcass, and now Commander Dok suddenly orders the MPs to watch over the Castle. Something is going on here! I bet I did see something or someone earlier!” 

"Something isn’t right." Moblit sighed. “What now?”

Hange made a devilish smile and cracked her knuckles together. "Now, we go to Mitras and have a few words with Erwin's old buddy!"


	6. Chapter 6

Levi and Erwin were eating brunch in the palace's dining hall before the two would head out back to the Scouts Base. They had both awoken at dawn, but since neither was in a hurry to leave, they had a lovely and intense session of lovemaking on the bed and then a continuation of it in the bathroom, where they washed up. Now eating their meal, they were getting ready to head back home. 

Levi drank his tea, carefully holding the teacup by the rim. He took small sips with cation while Erwin watched him with his head in his hand. 

“What?” Levi asked as he placed his cup down.

Erwin shook his head. “Nothing, I'm just happy you're here.” 

Levi glanced at Erwin as a light blush slashed across his face. Quickly he raised his teacup to his lips to hide his expression. If Erwin weren’t paying attention, he wouldn’t have noticed the small smile Levi made. 

“Was that a smile I saw?” Erwin teased him. 

“What, no!” Levi snapped back as he placed his teacup on the table. 

“Okay then,” Erwin smirked, putting his hand up. “I saw nothing.” 

Levi sighed and then smiled again. “I'm happy you're here too.” Levi felt rough calluses graze on the top of his thigh. In response, he reached his hand under the table to meet Erwins and intertwined his fingers with Erwins so the two locked hands. Erwin’s blue eyes met Levi’s as the two men held each other's gaze, light blushes spread over their cheeks, and for a moment, it was just them in the room. Just Erwin and Levi staring at each other in a world that was nothing but peaceful.

“Did you hear that Nara’s team caught six scouts in the mountains last night?” An MPs gnarly voice boomed through the room and abruptly ended Erwins and Levis' moment. 

Annoyed, Levi let go of Erwin's hand and turned around. He wanted to tell the MP that he was loud and to shut his mouth, but instead, he stopped and began listening to their conversation. 

“Yeah, I heard! One of them wouldn’t shut up about seeing a ghost girl or something!” The other MP said. 

“Yeah, I mean they came running out of Ginsberg Castle. That place is haunted. What did they accept.” 

“Ghosts aren't real.” 

“Yeah, they are. How would you know!” 

“Because Science says so.” 

“There are literally man-eating beasts that run around, and you draw the line at ghosts!” 

“Well, I…” 

“Hey! Soldiers!” Levi yelled at them. 

The MPs stopped their bickering and looked over at Levi. “Yes, sir?” One of them asked. 

“These scouts caught last night. What did they look like?” Levi asked. _Oh, please don’t be my idiots._

“I don’t know. They are in the holding cells, though if you want to see for yourselves.” The other MPs said. 

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Erwin stated, and the MPs went back to their bickering.   
  
Levi turned back around with a sigh. He gazed at his half-empty tea glass for a moment. They gazed at Erwin with a concerned look. “Erwin, you don’t think those are ours, do you?” 

“Only one way to find out,” Erwin stated as he got up. 

  
When they reached the holding cell, all Levi and Erwin's suspicions were confirmed when they found Hange yelling profusely at Nile. 

“Now listen here you want to be, good for nothing, adolescent beard Commander! You should release my subordinates right now! They didn’t do anything wrong!” 

“Section Commander Hange, they were trespassing.” Nile put his head in his hand, “That is a crime punishable by suspension and even dishonorable discharge from the military.” 

“Like your MPs don’t go drinking there every other night!” Hange shouted, waving arms aggressively in the air. 

“That's different. It's Military Police Property.” 

“Why, you little!” Hange grabbed Nile's bolo tie and pulled him down to eye level. “Now listen here, I'm going to…” 

“Section Commander!” Moblit shouted as he wrapped his arms around Hange’s waist and pulled them away. 

“Ugh!” Nile shouted until he noticed Erwin and Levi walk into the room. “Erwin, why do your subordinates always feel the need to harass me! Do you just excuse manors in your regiment!” 

“My subordinates are the ones who took back Wall Maria, so you should really watch how you talk to them, Nile.” Erwin stated. “Now, can you tell me what is all the fuss about?” 

“Erwin, thank goodness you're here! Nile is keeping Levis' squad hostage for no reason!” Hange shouted.

“Your squad was caught trespassing on private Military Police Property!” Nile shouted. “They will be charged to the fullest extent.” 

“Do you really have nothing better to do, Nile?” Levi crossed his arms and leaned against the door farm. 

“Apparently, your squad has nothing better to do, Levi. What were the words you used last night, ‘loyal,’ ‘would never do anything illegal,’” Nile smirked. “Well, that aged well, didn’t it.” 

Levi jerked forward to put Nile in his place, but Erwin stopped him by placing his hand on his shoulder, immediately calming him down. 

“Nile, please.” Erwin was calm and collected. “We put a lot of pressure on our soldiers, but at the end of the day, they are just kids. Kids that wanted to do something fun. They did not mean any harm to it, and I am sure they won't do it again.” Erwin paused to glance at Levi, who still had his eyes narrowed at Nile. “Trust me, they will be getting enough punishment from my Captain here, so can you please just let this go.” 

Nile sighed, his posture slouching. “I… Erwin, you don’t understand. I… I can’t just let this go.” 

Erwin walked up to Nile and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Nile, Remember when we were in training together? Remember all the stupid stuff we used to do when we were their age.” 

Niles' face lightened up as he began recalling memories from their youth. “Fine, but don’t go anywhere near the Ginsberg Castle again!” “Do you hear me?” 

“Loud and clear pube face,” Levi muttered as he walked past him. 

“What did you say to me, thug!” Nile shouted. 

“Loud and clear commander.” Levi rolled his eyes. “Take me to my squad,” Levi asked an MP, and the MP led Levi into the holding cells. 

  
Spending a night in the holding cells was not ideal for anyone, but regardless each member of the Levi squad still got some sleep. 

“I'm telling you guys she was transparent and everything.” Jean was describing the ghost he saw to his friends. 

“That's creepy,” Connie stated. 

“And probably the closest thing you’ll get to a girlfriend.” Eren taunted. 

“Shut up, Eren!” Jean shouted. 

“Guys!” Sasha cried. “What was that scream, though.” 

“It's hard to say. It definitely wasn’t a Titan.” Armin pondered. 

“It could have been anything,” Mikasa added. 

“Let's just hope we never hear it again,” Connie stated. “It was terrifying.” 

“Not as terrifying as the screams all of you will be making when we get back to the barracks.” Levi's voice echoed through the cells just before he appeared in front of their cell, looking very unhappy. 

“Ahhh!” The group screamed as they went back to the back wall of the cell. The MP began to open the cell, and Levi stepped inside. 

“You wanted to go look at the trees!” Levi snapped. “You weren’t even gone a full day, and you end up in here!” 

Everyone was silent, knowing better than to backtalk the Captain. Still, Eren, who respected the man more than he has ever respected anyone, ran towards the Captain and began trying to explain themselves. “Sir! I know this looks bad… but..but..”

“Save it, Jaeger!” Levi snapped. “I don’t want to hear any excuses. All of you are lucky Erwin and I was nearby. Otherwise, all of you would be trapped here for at least a week. Let's go!” 

Since Hange and Moblit left in a hurry to help Levi’s Squad, she left all of their belongings and horses back at their campsite. Their first objective would be to retrieve them. The day turned into twilight really quickly when they reached the Inferno Mountains, and the group was currently on the path towards the falls. Levi was on his horse behind the young group of teens who were walking all the way back. Erwin, Hange, and Moblit were on their horses behind them. They had their lanterns, but the rising full moon was creating enough light to light the path.

“So they were scared?” Erwin asked Hange, who was telling him the story of what the kids saw. 

“Yes, I don’t see why they would lie about it.” Hange continued. “They said they heard a scream, and it wasn’t human, beast, or titan! Erwin, I think something is really wrong with that place. I can’t tell you exactly what, but I have a hunch about it.” 

“Hmmmph.” Erwin thought, “When Niles' wife brought it up last night. Nile did seem oddly anxious about the topic. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Military police are trying to hide something.” 

“And that's another thing. Nile was taunting Levi about his squad back in the holding cell, and Nara told me that Nile had just ordered them to guard the castle for the next few days? Why is that?” 

“The topic came up last night that Levi’s Squad and you were taking a camping trip in the mountains,” “It would seem with the threat of the scouts being nearby, he decided to take action by guarding it for the next few nights.” 

“But why, what is so worth keeping a secret.” 

  
“You brats better keep moving,” Levi shouted at his squad. “You don’t get to stop.” 

“Ahh, my feet hurt,” Sasha whined. 

“Sasha, come on!” Connie stammered, tugging her along. 

“Ugh!” Sasha whined again. 

Levi opened his mouth to say something but was immediately cut off by one of the worst sounds in human history. 

“AHHHHHIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” The same but much louder, blood-curdling scream that Connie, Mikasa, Armin, and Sasha heard the night before. 

The scream was so loud the group had to cover their ears. After it finished, Hange moved her horse up further to speak to Armin. 

“Armin, was that the scream you heard last night?” Hange asked. 

Armin, with terror on his face, looked up. “Yes, yes it was.” 

“That definitely wasn’t human,” Levi commented. 

“Guys, I hear the scratching again!” Sasha began trembling. “It's much louder this time.” 

“This is certainly not the night any of us thought we were going to have,” Erwin stated. “How close are we to the Castle.” 

“It's not a Castle,” Armin stated. “It's a Cathedral, and we aren’t that far away.” 

“Let's go investigate,” Erwin stated. 

“Erwin, are you serious?” Levi asked. 

“Yes, as far as I can tell, we heard a titan scream, and the Scouts have jurisdiction when titans are involved.” 

Levi nodded. “Alright, can we stop by the camp to get these brats their gear at first?” “We don’t want them to be defenseless when we come across ‘titans.’” 

Erwin nodded. 

“YES!!!!” Hange shouted. “We’re going to see a real ghost!” 

The group got to their camp pretty quickly, and the kids very quickly changed into their gear. 

“Aw man, our horses ran away!” Jean commented at the spot where they left the horses. 

“What a shame. I guess all of you are walking the whole way back,” Levi stated. 

Sasha began rummaging through the supplies bile, looking for the meat that she had left. They had left the food pile in a bush, and Sasha couldn’t help but notice it was much more disorganized than when she left it. She began picking up the bits and pieces, not questioning why they were scattered. She eagerly looked through everything until she felt something cold and out of place. 

She gazed up to see what she was feeling and instantly jumped back. “Eee!” She shrieked, “Ahhh Ahhh!” 

“What is it, Sasha?” Connie asked, walking up to her, but instantly froze when he saw what she was shirking at. 

“Captain!” He shouted. “Captain, you should take a look!” 

“What is it?” Levi asked but stopped when he saw what they were looking at. “Oh.” That was all he could say. 

Right in front of them was what remained of an MP solder. His face was frozen in a sickly expression as his mouth was wide open, and his eyes were cross-eyed. His legs were completely mangled, with one turned upside down and parallel to the wipe and the other hanging in the bush. But what was worse about the horrid picture in front of them was the fact that where his stomach was supposed to be was replaced with pink squishy tubes with blood and stomach acid leaking out. His guts had been ripped out. 

“Erwin, I think we’ve found one of Nile's guards,” Levi called out to his commander. 

Erwin and Hange walked over to them, “That's one of them! That's one of the MPs who arrested your squad last night!” Hange shouted. 

“Or what's left of him,” Mobilt muttered. 

Levi looked up at Erwin. “This wasn’t a titan.” 

“It wasn’t a human either,” Erwin added. 

“Wait! Section Commander, remember the deer from yesterday?” Armin asked, tugging Hange’s coat. 

“Yes, what about it?” Hange asked.

“This MP he was mauled the same way the deer was mauled,” Armin said. 

‘What? What deer!” Levi asked. 

“Oh my gosh, you're right!” Hange took the goggles off of their head. “Yesterday before we entered the inferno mountains, a deer fell from one of the trees.” 

“It nearly crushed Sasha,” Connie added, and Sasha nodded in agreement. 

“But it was completely mauled especially at the stomach, much like this,” Hange stated. 

“There was a deer in one of these big ass trees, and all of you still walked into these mountains.” Levi raised his eyebrow. “Really?” 

“It's not that uncommon!” Hange stated. 

“Yes, for people who have ODM gear, not animals!” Levi narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. 

“It doesn’t matter.” Erwin chimed in. “This couldn’t have been a human doing, and I don’t know of any animals that kill their prey like this, perhaps gang-related.” 

“No, gangs kill with purpose, and they don’t usually leave messes. ” Levi stated. “When they do, I still have never seen any underground thug leave a mess this gruesome behind. This must have been some psychopath.” 

Hange put their fingers to their chin. “No, psychopaths kill with intent. They are either very clean or leave a display for people to see. It had to be…” 

“A monster,” Sasha stated. “A very, very angry monster.” 

_“Levi,”_ Levi froze as he heard a whisper through the air calling out to him. “Did you guys hear that?” Levi asked. 

“Hear what?” Hange asked. 

_“Levi,”_ He heard it again, this time louder. The voice felt extremely familiar to him. So he turned and looked into the forest. His eyes gazed into the forest. _It couldn’t be._ He thought to himself. 

“What is it, Levi?” Erwin asked with concern laced in his voice. 

Levi was brought out of his daze and looked back at them. “Oh, it's… it’s nothing.” 

“AHHHHHIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” A gust of wind came with a scream. Everyone bent over and covered their ears as the wind vortex around them violently began thrashing the tree's leaves. 

“What the hell is that!” Levi yelled, still covering his ears. 

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it!” Erwin yelled back over the sound of the howling wind. “Scouts, switch to ODM!” Erwin pulled his sword out.

“We can’t use gear in this wind!” Armin screamed, trying to see through his blond hair as it flew into his eyes. 

“No! But we can use our swords!” Erwin yelled. 

“AHHHHHIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” As the scream screamed again, the wind picked up speed, this time making the scream louder. It echoed all around them, making them disoriented and unaware as to its location. 

“Eren, get ready to change!” Erwin shouted at Eren, pointing his sword into the darkness. 

“Yes, sir!” Eren shouted. 

“AHHHHHIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” “EEEEEHHH” “AHHH!” The screams kept coming, and they got louder each time. 

“Get into a circle!” Erwin shouted. “Everyone, keep your backs to each other and keep your sword toward the forest!” The group all made a tight circle to where their shoulders were almost touching. Everyone held their swords out and kept them pointed towards the darkness. The wind continued to vortex around them, but at least this way, they had their whole environment covered. 

“Somethings coming my way!” Armin shouted. 

Levi, who was right next to him, eyed in Armin's direction. The wind made it hard to see through the trees. “It's okay. I’ll cover you!” Levi shouted to Armin. He was ready, ready for anything the forest could throw at them. Almost anything. 

_“Levi!”_ Levi heard the high pitch female voice again. “LEVI SAVE ME!” His eyes widened. That couldn’t have been. 

“No, You're Dead!” Levi shouted into the forest. 

_“Levi, save us!”_ Came a more masculine voice. 

_“Levi, please!”_ The high pitch voice shouted again. 

This time Erwin and the others heard the voices again. They all glanced toward Levi, who was covering his ears with his eyes squeezed shut. The man was clearly in distress. 

_“LEVI!” “LEVI!” “SAVE US!” “LEVI, PLEASE!” “LEVI!”_ The voices cried out all around him, getting louder each time. And suddenly, the space around him felt minimal as he fell to his knees. 

“AHHHH!!!” “YOU’RE NOT REAL!” He cried into the darkness. 

“Levi, don’t listen to them!” Hange shouted over the roar of the wind.

“AHH!” Levi shouted as he punched his fist into the ground. “Leave me alone!” 

_“Levi, Please!”_ The voice cried. _“Why did you leave us!”_

“AHHHH!” Levi held his head, he grabbed his hair as he tried to block them out, but he couldn’t take it anymore. What if it is actually them? He kept thinking. “HOLD ON! I'M COMING!” Levi shouted as he charged into the forest. 

“Levi, wait!” Erwin had called after him. Levi never disobeys orders. Panic washed over Erwin. He never does, but Erwin's heart dropped as he helplessly watched Levi’s small form disappear into the forest.

Armin and Sasha popped up, “We’ll go after him!”Armin shouted as he and Sasha ran after Levi. 

“Wait, Armin!” Erwin shouted, realizing he had lost control of the situation, turned to Eren. “Eren, change!” 

Eren reached his hand to his mouth. His mouth opened and ready to take a bite of his own flesh, but the sudden sound of a familiar voice in the wind stopped him.

_“Eren!”_ Came the voice of his mother.

Eren stopped, tears wielded in his eyes as he turned around in the direction in which it came. “MOM!” “I’m coming!” He shouted as he began to run into the forest. 

“Eren!” Mikasa screamed, she lifted her foot to run after him, but before she could, she stopped. The rocks and pebbles around them began jumping in the air. The tall trees began violently shaking back and forth, the water in the lake began making aggressive waves, and worse of all, the ground began shifting and loud rumbling noise.

“Ahhh!” Hange screamed before the ground collapsed underneath her, and she disappeared. 

“HANGEEEEEEEE!” Moblit cried before he felt the ground concave underneath him. 

Eren, who was still running toward the forest, was incomplete hysteria, so he missed the large boulder that began falling directly towards him. 

“EREN!” Mikasa cried after him, but she felt herself fall as the ground under gave out before she could reach him. “EREN!!!” 

“Ahhh!” Jean, who was closest to Eren, screamed as he jumped out towards Eren, pushing him out of the way of the boulder and landing on top of him. 

“NO!” Eren screamed, reaching into the forest.

Jean, who was still on top of him, began slapping him to knock some sense into. “You idiot, I'm gonna… Ahh!” 

Before Eren could make terms with reality, the two felt the ground under them shift, and the next thing either of them knew, they were falling straight down into the mountain. 

“What's happening!” Connie cried out! 

“Connie! Stay close to me!” Erwin shouted right before the ground swallowed them both whole.

Meanwhile, Levi was running fast into the woods. All he could think about was the voice he heard. “I’m coming! I’m coming!” He shouted as the voices echoed around him. The trees were shaking violently as the wind roared, and echoes of screams of the people he lost surrounded him.

“Captain!” Armin cried as he and Sash ran after them.  
  
The three of them were running, so none noticed the violent shaking that occurred until a large tree made a crack noise and then began to fall directly towards Armin.   
“Armin! Watch out!” Sasha cried as she jumped onto Armin, pushing him out of the way, and much like Eren and Jean, the two found themselves falling into the mountain. 

“AHHHH!” Sahsa and Armin screamed. 

Levi stopped as he heard Sasha and Armins' scream. “SHIT!” He yelled as he saw them fall into the mountain. 

“LEVI!” “LEVI!” He heard the voices coming from behind him. 

Conflicted, he eventually turned around and began running to the hole that Armin and Sasha fell. 

“Shit!” Levi screamed as the hole was beginning to close. 

“SHIT!” Levi screamed as he jumped down into the hole. And the screams of the wind were the last thing he heard before he found himself falling into the abyss. 


	7. Chapter 7

Darkness, pitch-black darkness was the scene Hange opened their eyes to when they eventually stopped falling. “Ahem, Ahem!” Hange coughed to expel the dust from their lungs. “Ahem! Ahem! Hello, can anyone hear me?” Hange’s voice echoed throughout the darkness. They were reaching their hands in front of them to feel their surroundings. 

“Hange?” A voice croaked through the darkness. 

“Moblit!” Excitement rang in Hange’s voice because they realized they weren’t alone in this dark void. “Where... Ahem, where are you? I can’t see anything!” 

“I’m… Ahem, I’m by a wall, I think?” Moblit began crawling on his hands and knees, feeling the rough ground. 

“Here, follow my voice!” Hange said from their position. 

“Okay,” Moblit said as he continued to crawl, fingers and hands feeling cold and wet rocks under him, and then something soft, hair. “Is this you?” He asked out into the darkness. 

“Nope, that’s me.” 

“Erwin?” Hange asked. 

“Yes... Ahem.” Erwin coughed, trying to sit up. 

“Commander!” Moblit cried, “sorry.” 

“It is okay. I believe I have some matches in my pocket; let me see if I can create some light.” Erwin felt his coat pocket for the small box of matches he kept with him. “Here, Moblit, can you reach out your hand? I won’t be able to light them myself.” 

“Yes, of course,” Moblit said as he stretched his hand reluctantly into the void. He felt Erwin hand him the small box. After a few moments of finding a match stick, Moblit lights a match, immediately creating enough light to light up the surrounding area, including Erwin, who was right in front of him. 

“Hello, Moblit.” Erwin smiled. 

“Oh, thank goodness.” Hange’s voice echoed in the dark as they walked over to the light. “We need to make a torch. Is there any wood around?” 

Erwin and Moblit glanced around, and to their surprise, a large cracked wooden beam stood only a few feet from them. 

“Here,” Erwin said as he got up and pulled out a stick of wood from the wooden beam, then handed it to Hange. 

Hange ripped a piece of cloth from their shirt and wrapped it around the end of the torch. “Moblit, let me see your flask.” 

With his free hand, Moblit reached into his coat and handed his sliver flask to Hange. “Don’t use all of it.” 

“I won’t.” Hange said while sprinkling alcohol on the cloth, “We will probably need more later.” 

“I will need more later.” Moblit took the match and let the torch. 

The flame began to burn the cloth, and Hange lifted the torch to light up their surroundings. The space between the walls was narrow but also symmetrical, too symmetrical to be natural. 

“We're in a tunnel,” Moblit stated. 

“Yes, a man-made tunnel.” Hange waved the torch around to look at the wooden pillars that scaled the tunnel’s height. The eye could only see three beams, but it was enough for the group to sense that the posts were there for support. Between the pillars was a pile of rocks that looked uneven than the rest of the tunnel walls. 

“And that must be where we fell from.” Erwin pointed at the pile of rocks.

“Mmmm.” A voice echoed down the tunnel. 

“Hello?” Hange cried and walked towards the sound. 

It only took a few steps for Hange to see that the voice came from a body on the ground. Hange squatted down to get a closer look. 

“Mikasa,” Hange asked as they nudged Mikasa’s shoulder. 

“Mmmm.” Mikasa’s eyes began to blink open. “Eren!” She popped up. “Where... Where is he!” Mikasa grabbed Hanges shirt. 

“Mikasa, we fell into the mountains, everyone got separated…” 

“Eren! No, no, no!” Mikasa jumped up and ran to the rock pile, where she started racking at the walls, throwing rocks down, trying to break through so she could reach Eren. “EREN!” She shouted again. 

“Calm down!” Erwin using one arm, pulled her away. 

“NO EREN!” Mikasa screamed. 

Erwin lifted her the way he used to lift Levi when he had his fits. “Mikasa, you need to calm down, I’m worried about the others too, but we need to focus right now.” 

“AHH! GR! But what if he's trapped! What if the rocks are crushing him!” Tears formed in Mikasa's eyes. “We have to save him!” She ran back to the wall, but Erwin grabbed her arm. 

“That is possible, and Levi, as well as the others, might also be crushed by rocks, but right now, we can’t think like that,” Erwin stated. 

Mikasa calmed down, but she still got on her knees and buried her head into her scarf, “I will find you, Eren, stay strong; I know you’re probably scared.” 

**Meanwhile**

“NICE GOING HORSEFACE!” Eren shouted at Jean as he chucked a rock at his face. 

“Ow! HEY, don’t blame me! I saved your life back there!” Jean shouted at Eren. 

“I would have just turned into a titan!” Eren shouted. “Now we’re trapped down here!" "Out of all the people I could have gotten separated with, I had to get separated with you!” 

“Just turn into a titan NOW!” Jean yelled. 

“I CAN’T WE’RE UNDERGROUND!” Eren shouted. 

“Mikasa, we will find Eren and the others,” Hange put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 

Mikasa looked up at Hange through tear-stained eyes and nodded. “Okay, you’re right. Where… where are we?” 

“It almost looks like mine tunnels?” Moblit commented. 

“I heard rumors of old mine shafts in the Inferno Mountains,” Erwin stated. “But I didn’t think they were true until now.”

“Do you think they abandoned it because of that monster?” Hange asked. 

“It’s quite possible.” 

“What was that thing?” Mikasa asked. 

“It was so unusual,” Hange answered. “But we do live in a world of Titans; it would be unwise for us to cross out the possibilities of other monsters roaming our world.” “Did anyone get a look at it?” Hange asked. 

Everyone shook their heads. 

“A monster indeed,” Erwin shouted. “And by the looks of what it did to that MP, it surely poses a threat to humanity.” 

“We need to get a move on; who knows how much light we have left,” Mikasa stood up and brushing the dust off her pants. 

“Yes, but which way do we go?” Moblit asked, looking between the two dark ends of the tunnel. 

“We need to reach the surface,” Hange looked around. “Let’s just walk this way and hope for the best.” Hange pointed to their right. 

Erwin nodded. “Let’s just hope we are going the right way.” 

* * *

Drip, Drip, Drip. A water droplet dropped on Connie’s cheek, and his eyes fluttered open. “Hmmm.” He grumbled to himself as he slowly raised his body off the ground. He tried to stand up, but a dizziness spell overpowered him, so he had to sit right back down where he put his head in his hands. Connie had hit his head on the way down, and it ached because of it. 

After a few moments of dizziness, he lifted his head to take in his surrounding. He was on top of a large metal platform. Surprisingly, there was light coming from old gas lamps that stamped the walls. Somebody has had to light them. The light revealed four large metal pillars on each corner of the platform. Realizing that he was on one part of a much larger structure, Connie stretched his neck to gaze upward. He wanted to see if he could see the top but was disappointed when he saw the pillars led many meters upwards and into darkness. Disappointed, Connie crawled to the edge of the platform and looked out over the edge. He again became disappointed to see the pillars go straight down into a large black hole, and he couldn’t even see the bottom. Frustrated, Connie stomped his foot which made a loud boom echo through the abyss and made the platform jerk back and forth. That was when the realization hit Connie at what he was on. He remembers Armin talking about contractions that used weights to lift people and cargo so they wouldn’t have to take the stairs. In other words, Connie was on an elevator. 

Connie glanced around; besides the loud bang he made and the water dripping, his surroundings had been quiet. “Sasha?” He called out, “Jean?” “Commander?” 

Nothing, only silence, answered him. Connie could only hear the sound of dripping water. 

“Mikasa” “Eren! Armin!” Connie called out louder and again was met with silence.

Panic began to spread through him as the realization occurred to him of what it meant if no one answered. “Hange, Moblit!” “Captain Levi!” He cried out. “Somebody!” “Can anyone hear me! Please!” 

His worst fear was real. He was alone. Alone, on an elevator inside a mountain with a monster on the loose. 

“Shit!” He cried as he buried his head in his knees. “Somebody, please!” 

“Shh!” A voice whispered through the air. 

Connie popped up. He was entirely alone just a few moments ago. “Hello?” He asked as he began searching the surrounding area. 

“Shh, they’ll hear you.” The voice whispered once again. 

Connie moved his line of sight to a metal beam to the right of him. A little white hand rested on the side of it. 

“Hello? Who are you?” Connie asked, walking carefully to the pillar. 

A small and slender white face peeked out behind the rusty pillar. Connie saw the face long enough to know that it was a child before the face jerked quickly behind the post taking its hand with it. 

“It’s okay,” Connie whispered. “Come out from there.” He reached the pillar and looked behind it. A small child in a nightgown was sitting on the floor with its head on his knees. His little bare feet were dirty and curled at the toes. Connie squatted down, so he was at eye level with the child. “I won’t hurt you.” 

“You won’t.” The child whispered, “But they will.” the child lifted his head to reveal his face. The child had a distinct look of a child, small lips, a little nose, and stringy hair. But something was very wrong with the child. Its eyes were completely black. 

“What the heck!” Connie yelled. Forgetting that he was on top of a platform, he jerked back aggressively, clearing the edge, and then fell down the large hole. 

“Crap!” Connie yelled as his body began plummeting through the air. 

Force of habit made him deploy a grappling hook into the nearest wall. The grappling hook caught onto the nearby rock wall, and Connie felt his weight shift as he swung into the wall, hitting his shoulder against the stone. 

“Urgh!” He cried, but he wasn’t falling through the air anymore, so he was thankful for that.   
Realising that he could now see the bottom, he lowered himself down until his feet touched the stone ground. It was utterly pitch-black. He pulled out a box of matches he had in his back pocket and light it. 

Six tunnels were surrounding him, each leading into a dark unknown path. Connie gazed back up the elevator and realized that his best bet to get out of here would be to follow the structure up, but he stopped when something caught his eye at the end of one of the tunnels. Movement. 

He couldn’t make out what was moving, so he squinted his eyes and walked towards it. As he got closer, the outline of a person was made clear. 

“Sahsa?” He asked out, his voice echoing through the long tunnel. 

* * *

  
“Hmmm,” Armin mumbled to himself as he slowly came too. He opened his eyes he saw nothing but darkness and a small light that bounced off the walls. He appeared to be in some kind of a tunnel. 

“Are you okay?” A voice asked him. 

Armin looked up to see Captain Levi looking down at him. In one hand, he held a lantern and reached out his other to Armin. 

“Yeah, thank you, where are we?” Armin took Levi’s hand and stood up.

“We appear to be in some kind of an old tunnel. The mountain caved in on us. I think that monster that was surrounding us had something to do with it.” Levi stated. He held a gas lantern up; it created a golden glow on his pale features. “You alright, Blouse?” Levi turned toward Sasha, who was in the middle of vomiting up all the meat she ate earlier. 

“Ugh, yeah, I'm fine,” Sasha stated. “I hope everyone else is okay.” 

“Where is everyone?” Armin asked. 

“We got separated,” Levi stated; he looked away. “It was my fault.”   
  
“Huh?” Armin gasped, confused until he remembered Levi running into the woods chasing after voices. “Captain, if I may ask, what or who did you think you heard?” 

Levi looked down; he hadn’t thought about Isabel and Furlan in a long time, their memories almost too painful. He never thought he would think of them again, but when he heard their voices, something swelled up in him, making him make a reckless decision that almost got him and two members of his Squad killed while also getting separated from everyone else. 

“People I used to know,” Levi stated. 

“Oh, I see,” Armin asked. “Are...are they gone?” 

“Eaten by Titans,” Levi answered. 

“I'm sorry.” 

“It doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago. Right now, we need to find a way through these tunnels so we can reconnect with everyone else, assuming they're alive,” Levi stated. “Blouse, are you ready?” 

“Yes, sir!” Sasha stated. 

“Let’s go then,” Levi commanded, and the three began their journey into the caves. 

“Do you think we are going the right way?” Armin asked Levi after walking through the dark tunnels for a while.

“I have no idea, I would like to think we are, but I'm unsure,” Levi answered.

“It sure is stuffy down here. I'm beginning to feel claustrophobic,” Sasha cried. 

“Try not to think of how deep we are and just focus on the sounds around you. Trust me; it works like a charm.” Levi said, remembering his time in the underground. 

“Sasha!” Came a familiar voice up ahead of them. 

“Connie!” Sasha cried. “Connie, hey!” Sasha ran up ahead of them. 

“Wait, Sasha, come back!” Armin cried. 

“What's wrong?” Levi asked. 

“How do we know it's him if we cannot see him,” Armin stated. “You heard familiar voices as well, and that's when we got separated.” 

“Huh.” The realization dawned upon Levi as he pulled his sword out. “Sasha, get back here!” 

“Why, what’s wrong its…” Sasha stopped. 

“Sasha, what’s wrong?” Connie's voice echoed through the tunnel, but it sounded distorted. “Come here, Potato girl.” 

Sasha slowly began backing up as the distorted voice rang through the tunnels. 

“Come here.” It growled. “Come here!” 


	8. Chapter 8

"PUSH" Hange screamed at the top of their lungs. 

“Arr!” Mikasa, Moblit, and Erwin all grunted together. 

“PUSH!” Hange shouted louder. 

“Arrh, we are trying Hange!” Moblit shouted. 

“Not enough!” Hange yelled. 

“Hange, this cart is stuck, and it’s not moving,” Erwin said, retracting from his position to use his one arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead. 

“How can it be stuck! It has wheels, doesn’t it.” Hange argued, then glanced at Mikasa.

“Section Commander, if I push it any harder, it might make the roof around us collapse,” Mikasa said. “Maybe it has a break?” 

“That’s a possibility.” Erwin pondered. 

Mikasa, Moblit, Hange, and Erwin had walked through the long and empty tunnel for about 40 minutes without seeing a sign of anyone. One of them would often call out a name from their missing group, and only the echoes of their voices would answer. Unfortunately, a minecart topped with a collapsed wooden pillar blocked their path. Since none of them wanted to turn around, they figured their only option was to attempt to push the cart out of the way.

“I think the break is on the other side,” Moblit said as he gazed through a small opening through the rubel. “I can see a leaver.” 

“None of us can fit through here,” Erwin commented, crouching by him. 

“No, but maybe one of us can put our arm through there and reach it,” Moblit stated. “The lever isn’t that far away.” 

“I’ll do it.” Mikasa volunteered. “I have the strongest gripe.” 

Erwin and Moblit backed up from the hole to let Mikasa get closer to it. Mikasa looked through the hole; it was almost pitch black on the other side. 

“The lever is on the right. Do you see it?” Erwin asked. 

“I see it. I think I can reach it.” Mikasa said before extending her arm into the small hole. She pressed the side of her body against the rubble to lengthen her arm as long as possible. Her face pressed against the cold stone. 

  
“I saw a handle on the top of it,” Erwin told Mikasa. “Can you feel it?” 

Mikasa didn’t respond because she was too busy feeling her arm around on the other side of the tunnel, much colder than their side. The air felt moist against her skin, and the stones and cart were rough under her fingers. After fishing her arm in the dark for a while, she finally felt the cold pole that was the brake. She felt her hand up the bar to find a handle that she could squeeze. 

“Okay, I have a hold of it.” She told Erwin. 

“Good. Don’t pull it yet. Hange, Moblit, can you two keep the cart steady? We don’t want to crush Mikasa’s arm accidentally.” 

“Were on it!” Hange stated before Moblit, and they walked to the cart. 

While Hange and Moblit got in position, Mikasa felt the hairs on her arm stand up as a light cold breeze brushed her arm. What the hell. Mikasa thought but didn’t say anything. She tried not to think about it, but it felt like someone was watching her. Mikasa observed Hange and Moblit get into position to distract her from the uneasiness that she suddenly felt. The cold air around her arm seemed to shift, and all of a sudden, she felt fingers tickle her wrist. It’s just the air; it’s just the air. She told herself. 

“Okay, ready!” Hange stated. 

Erwin looked at Mikasa. “Now, Mikasa.” 

Mikasa squeezed her fist around the rusty handle. The fingers that she felt graze her wrist retreated, and the cart shifted as she pulled the lever towards her. 

“I feel it moving!” Hange chanted with excitement

“Great! Nice job, Mikasa!” Erwin smiled. 

“Thank you!” Mikasa stated as she began retracting her arm through the hole, but just before her wrist came out of the small opening, she felt the fingers again. This time the fingers wrapped themselves aggressively around Mikasa’s wrist and yanked her arm back into the hole. 

“Agh!” Mikasa shouted as she felt her head slam into the side of the stone. “Something has my arm!” 

“What!” Hange shouted. 

“Ahh!” Mikasa cried as she felt rough hands tugged at her arm as if it was trying to tear her arm off. 

“Mikasa!” Erwin cried before he wrapped his one arm around her waist and began to pull her back.   
“Shoot! Hange, Moblit, do not let go of that cart!” 

“Something is pulling at the Cart too!” Moblit shouted. Moblit had sweat beating down his forehead, his arms fully extended, and his feet stamped to the ground. He and Hange leaned back, trying to keep the cart from moving forward and potentially crushing Mikasa. 

“Argh!” Mikasa cried as she tried to pull her arm back. The more she and Erwin pulled, the more pain spread through her arm. Rough Nails dug themselves into her forearm, desperately scratching at her. 

“Arrrr!” Erwin cried as he pulled Mikasa back. Whatever had to hold of her was not letting her go. 

“Erwin! We can’t hold on much longer!” Hange shouted. 

“Come on! Let go of her!” Erwin shouted to some unknown monster. 

Suddenly, Mikasa felt the rough claws let go, and she and Erwin both fell back against the stone ground. 

“Ahh!” Mikasa grunted. 

Hange and Moblit let go of the cart, and it moved through the rubble, making the wooden pillars and stone collapse even more. Dust spread throughout the tunnel, and Hange immediately pulled their sword out, jumping through the wreckage to the other side to face what beast was tormenting them. 

“Who’s there!” Hange shouted aggressively but was surprised to find no trace of anyone or anything on the other side. 

“We felt something!” Moblit cried. “There was something here!” 

“Mikasa, are you alright?” Erwin asked, crocheting down next to her. 

“I’m fine.” Mikasa nodded as she inspected her arm. Her sleeve had long gashes where something had ripped it to shreds, and her forearms had long red scratch marks running down them from the elbow to the wrist. 

“What the hell was that! Moblit shouted, pulling his flask out. 

“That was certainly not human,” Hange stated. They crouched down next to Mikasa and inspected her arm. “Whatever did this might have also been the thing that killed those MPs.” 

“We need to find the others,” Mikasa stated. 

“Agreed. Keep a lookout for those things.” Erwin stated. “And stay together.” 

  
“Ugh! Where is everyone!” Jean cried as he sluggishly followed Eren through the dark tunnels of the mine shaft. 

“That is a good question,” Eren said. “It's possible they all died with the cave-in, and you and I are the only ones left.” 

“God, kill me now,” Jean muttered to himself. 

“What was that!” Eren shouted. 

“Nothing! I mean, it would be tragic if everyone else died, but we survived, and there appears to be some kind of mine shaft within the mountains, so maybe they survived too.” 

“Let’s hope so,” Eren stated. The two continued walking through the tunnels. The eerie glow of their torches lights the path for them. 

Slowly the tunnel became more and more narrow until finally, the gold light revealed a thick wall in their path. 

“Another dead end!” Jean shouted. “Do you even know where you're going!” 

“Yes, I just take relaxing strolls through abandoned mine shafts on my off time!” Eren’s sarcasm echoed through the tunnel. “Obviously not, Jean! I don’t see you trying to find a way out!” 

Jean opened his mouth to argue back but stopped when he heard something. “Wait, Eren, do you hear that?” 

“Hear what?” 

Jean listened as he gazed down the dark tunnel, “It, it sounds like… like… like moaning?” 

“Moaning?” Eren raised an eyebrow. “Is it your ghost girlfriend?”  
  
“Shut up!” Jean shouted and then calmly stated, “Listen.” 

Eren crossed his arms and leaned his ear down the dark tunnel. The tunnel was mostly quiet, but there was a distinct sound faintly echoing through the chamber. 

“Mommmthmmerrr.” A moan vibrated the moist air around them. 

“What the?” Eren held up his torch and walked towards it. 

“Eren! What are you doing?” Jean grabbed Erens’s arm. 

“Going towards it.” 

“What why!” Jean was loudly whispering. “We don’t know what that is.” 

Eren yanked his arm away from Jeans grasped. He narrowed his eyes, and although he was annoyed, he lowered his voice to match Jean’s tone. “Exactly, what if it’s one of ours. What if it’s Mikasa or Connie? What if they’re hurt, and they need help?” 

“It doesn’t sound like any of ours!” Jean whispered. 

Eren looked down. Jean was right. 

“Mmmmmoommmoomthhher.” The moaned echoed again. 

Eren and Jean both glanced down the tunnel. Something about that moaned sounded off. It did not sound like someone crying out in distress, more like someone mumbling to themselves. It was the noise someone made when they were sleep talking. 

“If it turns out to be one of ours. I’ll never forgive myself.” Eren shook his head before turning and walking into the dark tunnel. 

Jean watched Eren walked down the tunnel. After a moment of hesitation, Jean followed him. 

“Mmmmmmommmaa,” the voice moaned again, this time louder. 

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Jean whispered to Eren. 

“Neither do I, we still have our swords, though, so if things go wrong, we can use them,” Eren whispered back. 

As the tunnel began to curve, the moan started to get louder. “Mmmmoooomoom.” The hair of the boy’s neck began to vibrate. The sound echoed in their ears, and the roof above them released dirt each time the voice moaned. 

Slowly the boys walked around the curve of the tunnel until the tunnel straightened out again, and a large metal door came into view. The moans stopped, and the tunnel was once again quiet. 

“I think it’s behind there,” Jean commented, nodding to the bulky metal door. 

“Agreed,” Eren said. “Help me get this open.” 

The two walked up to the door and began turning the circular metal handed. 

“Arrr.” Jean and Eren grunted. The door was cumbersome, but after a few tugs, the two young men cracked it open. 

“What?” Jean asked when he noticed Eren looking at him. 

“You gonna go in?” Eren asked. 

Jean narrowed his eyes. “After you?” He nodded. 

“Ladies first,” Eren smirked. 

“You’re correct,” Jean nodded to the door. 

The two starred at each other with narrow eyes and waited for the other to break. 

“Goddammit.” Jean huffed out before stomping inside the door. Eren followed and closed the door behind him. 

The room inside was dark, but their torch lights light up the area well enough to see bed bunks and shelves’ outlines. 

“This must have been like a break room for the minors.” Eren pondered out loud. 

“Some break room, what do you think happened to them,” Jean asked as he walked the circumference of the room. There were broken benches, dirty cots, and bunks, playing cards scattered across a mold-stained table. Suitcases and backpacks filled with clothes and books were abandoned in a corner. Miners helmets still hanged on the walls. And a shiny knife sat on the table. The blade looked like it was polished not too long ago. 

“Who knows, they probably just abandoned it when the mineral they were looking for ran out,” Eren stated. 

“Yeah, but they left everything here. Look, there are suitcases filled with belonging over there.” Jean reached down to pick up the knife. It seemed out of place somehow. 

“What's that?” Eren asked. 

“A knife, it's been polished recently,” Jean answered. 

“Can I see?” Eren asked. 

Jean handed him the knife, and Eren held it up to the light to inspect it. Its sharp point and duel sharp edges with a black outline revealed its dagger shape. “It’s made out of silver,” Eren stated. 

“How can you tell?” Jean asked. 

“It’s turning black.” 

“So it’s silver and has been polished? What does that mean?” Jean asked. 

“That someone recently left it here,” Eren stated. 

BANG! The metal door jerked forward. 

Eren and Jean straightened up then glanced at each other. Did we hear that right? 

BANG! BANG! BANG! The door jerked forward again to confirm their ears. Something was behind that door. 

“Shit!” Eren whispered fear struck through him like lighting.“Hide!” 

BANG! BANG! BANG! The banging became louder as the two hurried quickly under a nearby cot. Under normal circumstances, the two would have pulled their swords out to face what was behind that door. But something felt very wrong about the creature lurking, so Eren’s instincts immediately told him to hide. 

BANG HM! The door flew across the room and crashed into the other side of the room. 

“Grrrrrrr.” A low grow heard from where the door once stood. 

Thomp! Thomp! Thomp! The thing’s steps were loud and aggressive, making the ground crack with every stomp. 

From under the bunk, Eren lowered his chin to the ground to get a view of the monster. He felt Jean trembling next to him, so he glanced to his side to see Jean with his eyes closed and his hand covering his mouth to stop his heavy breathing. “Lud Dub, Lud Dup.” Eren could faintly hear the sound of Jean’s heartbeat. 

“Lud Dub, Lud Dub.” Eren could hear his own as he scanned the floor in front of him. 

THOMP! The creature stopped directly in front of them, its foot hitting the ground harshly, making a dent in the floor. Eren covered his mouth as he saw the monster's feet. Its feet looked almost human, almost. It was in the shape of human feet but much more extensive, too large to be human. Long claws replaced the things toenails. Sharp horns that looked like jagged bone returned their heels. 

“Lud, Dud, lud, dud.” Jean bit his lip and reached for his sword.

“Hiss.” The monster hissed saliva-filled hiss before it began turning towards them. 

“Lud, Dud, lud, dud.” Eren reached for his sword. 

“Hisss.” The monster hissed again, this time louder. 

Eren and Jean watched as its feet seemed to lean forward, indicating that it leaned towards them. The cot above them began to move, and Jean and Eren slowly drew their swords. 

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” A human scream echoed through the tunnels. 

The cot stopped moving, the creature’s feet turned around, and then much quicker than it walked in, got on all fours, and ran out of the room. 

“Ahhhhh!” Another human screamed. 

Jean and Eren sat in silence as they released their breaths and began breathing heavily. The two looked at each other before speaking. 

“What the hell was that!” Jean asked. 

Eren, still in shock, looked at jean. “I have no idea.” He crawled out from under the bed and stood up. His eye caught sight of the metal door that the monster had thrown across the room. “Whatever it was, it was strong.” 


	9. Chapter 9

Erwin, Mikasa, Hange, and Moblit walked through the tunnels on high alert with their swords drawn. Shortly after Mikasa’s incident, the group heard human screams coming from deep within the tunnels. Fearing it was one of theirs, they began to quicken their pace. Turning around corners and rapidly rushing through crossroads. 

Moblit and Hange were now in the lead, with Mikasa and Erwin directly behind them, glancing over their shoulders if something tries to sneak behind them. The group is silent; for the most part, none wanted to attract any unnecessary attention. 

As Erwin walks with the rest of the group, he can’t help but worry about Levi. Erwin tried to push his concern to the back of his mind. He had to worry about the group as a whole. Erwin also knows better than anyone that Levi can take care of himself; he is humanity’s strongest after all. But after seeing the pain in Levi’s face when the group heard those voices, Erwin couldn’t help but be concerned. It scared him when Levi frantically ran into the forest. _He’s never done anything that reckless before._ Erwin thought to himself. Levi usually thought out his actions and was precise with every move he made. The only time Erwin had ever seen Levi be reckless was when a titan killed his friends. _Could it be?_ Erwin thought back to the voices he heard. 

“Isabel and Furlan!” Moblit snapped his fingers. 

“Excuse me?” Hange asked. 

“Isabel and Furlan! That’s who Levi heard! It took me a moment, but I remember their voices!” Moblit elaborated.

“Who are they!” Mikasa asked. 

“Levi’s friends?” Hange asked. 

“Captain Levi had friends?” Mikasa asked. 

“Yes them! I'm sure of it!” Moblit cried. 

“But they died a long time ago!” Hange stated. “How could it possibly be them?” 

“Who were Isabel and Furlan?” Mikasa asked again.

“Levi’s companions from the underground,” Erwin explained. “When I apprehended him, I made him and his friends join the survey corps. They were both very skilled. I guess Levi had trained them well, but on their first mission out, a heavy rainstorm appeared out of nowhere, and Levi’s whole squad, including his friends, were slaughtered by titans.” 

Everyone was quiet for a moment, taking in the weight of what Erwin had just said. All of a sudden, it made sense why Levi had run after the voices. 

“So you kidnapped the Captain? That’s how he joined the survey corps.” Mikasa asked. 

“I like to think of it as handing out an opportunity,” Erwin smirked. 

“So you kidnapped him?” Moblit stated. “That’s kinky.” 

Hange immediately turned to Moblit and smacked him on the arm. 

“OW!” Mobilt cried. 

“I’m surprised he didn’t try to kill you,” Mikasa stated. 

“Oh, he tried,” Erwin stated. 

“Shhh!” Hange shushed the group! 

Everyone lowered their voices and drew their swords. 

“What is it?” Moblit asked in a hushed tone. 

“I hear footsteps,” Hange whispered. 

The group grew quiet as they listened. It was faint, but The group could clearly hear the sound of footsteps from around the corner. They all got in line with Hange in front and Moblit carrying the torch. Slowly the four approached the intersection. The footsteps were only a few meters away now. Hange glanced at Erwin, who was in the back; Erwin drew his sword and nodded at Hange. Hange nodded back, lifting three fingers, then retracting one at a time. 

_One, two, three._

“AHHHH!” The group shouted as they charged around the corner to face what was stepping behind it. 

“AHHHH!” Jean and Eren both screamed and hugged each other. 

“It’s us! It’s us!” Jean screamed. 

“Don’t hurt us!” Eren shouted back. 

“Jean, Eren?” Hange asked. 

“Eren!” Mikasa cried and lunged at Eren, hugging him. “Eren, are you okay!” 

“Yeah, I’m fine Mikasa, its good to see you.” Eren gave Mikasa a gentle smile. 

“Hi, Mikasa.” Jean nodded. “I’m here too.” 

“Hahahaha!” Hange began laughing. “We almost killed you there!” 

“Thankfully, you didn’t,” Jean said. 

“I’m glad to see that you are both alright,” Erwin retracted his sword. “Have you seen the others by any chance?” 

Jean and Eren looked at each other, and both shook their heads. “No,” Eren said. “You guys are the first we’ve come across.” 

“Darnit,” Erwin narrowed his eyebrows. 

“So that means we are missing Levi, Connie, Armin, and Sasha,” Hange added. 

“Let’s hope they are all together,” Moblit said. 

“It’s likely, Armin, Levi, and Sasha are together,” Erwin said. “Connie fell closer to me; he may be alone.” 

“Oh no,” Mikasa gasped. 

“I’m sure they’re all together,” Jean stated. 

“Wait, we ran this way because we heard screams. Was that you guys?” Eren asked. 

“We came this way because we heard screams!” Hange stated. 

“Wait, so that wasn’t you guys?” Jean asked. 

“No, it wasn’t,” Erwin answered. 

“So then that means…” Moblit began. 

“It was one of the others,” Hange added. 

Erwin’s mouth made a line as he attempted to hide his concern. _Levi is fine._ He told himself. _He is with the others and is protecting them like he always does. Levi always comes back to you. ‘I’ll always come back, Erwin.’_ He heard Levi’s voice echo in his mind. 

“Mikasa! What happened to your arm?” Eren asked. 

“We had a run-in with that thing,” Mikasa stated. 

“Did you get a look at it!” Eren asked. 

“No, it pulled me through a wall.” 

“Whatever it was, it was powerful. Eren and I saw it throw a door across a room.” 

“Wow!” “How heavy was the door?” Hange asked, enthralled. 

“Hange NO!” Moblit narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. 

“What did I do?” 

“I know that look! We are not capturing it, so you can ‘study’ it!” Moblit put his foot down. 

“I wasn’t… I…” Hange stopped. She wanted to study one. 

“AHHHHHHHHHH!!!” A scream echoed through the tunnels, and the group all turned in the direction it came. 

“We need to find the others,” Erwin stated. 

“Right.” Hange agreed. “I guess our best bet is to go that way.” 

“Yes, everyone stay on high alert. We don’t know what we are dealing with.” 

* * *

  
“Come here,” A distorted voice echoed in the dark tunnel. 

Sahsa felt her heart drop. That voice was not Connie. The air around her felt cold, and suddenly she felt very claustrophobic. “Ahh!” She gasped as she fell backward onto the floor. 

“Sasha!” Armin cried and took off running in her direction. 

The tunnel was so dark, but in front of her, Sasha could make out a shadow of a tall figure with long arms and long legs. She couldn’t make out the monster, but she knew enough to know it wasn’t a Titan. 

“AWWWWE!” The shadow screamed and lifted its long arm in the air. 

“Ahhhhhhhhh!” Sasha screamed and put her arms up, bracing for impact. 

Before the monster could claw her, Levi jumped in front of her and swiped at it with his sword. His lantern had gone it in all the commotion, so he wasn’t entirely sure what he was sweeping at, but he felt his sword cut through something. 

“AWWWWEEEE!” The monster screamed out of pain. 

Levi lifted his leg and kicked the shadow in front of him, sending the shadow back into the darkness. He felt his leg come in contact with something dense and hard. “RUN!” He yelled at Sasha. 

Armin tugged on Sasha's sleeve as he helped her up. "Ahhh!" He cried before the three took off running down the opposite end of a tunnel from a monster they could not see. 

“AWWEEE!” They heard the same blood-curdling scream that has been haunting them since they arrived in the mountains. It echoed around them, shaking the walls of the tunnel. 

“Ahhh!” Armin screamed! He turned his face to look back but was stopped when Levi grabbed his shoulder.

“Don’t look back. Keep running!” Levi shouted. 

Then the worst possible scenario happened. The tunnel curved. The three desperately ran around it, but they came face-to-face with a wall—a dead-end to their misfortune. 

“No! No! NO!” Sahsa cried as she felt the wall under her fingertips. 

“No!” Armin panicked along with her. 

“Stay behind me!” Levi shouted as he drew his sword once more and pointed into the darkness. From beyond the curve of the tunnel, the three could hear loud scratching as the monster came closer and closer. 

“AWWWWEEE!” It cried again. Its scream vibrated the air, echoed against the walls. It sounded as if it was coming from every direction. Armin and Sahsa had to cover their ears as it hurt to listen to it. 

Armin took a step back and felt his leg touch the wall behind him. _It can’t end this way. It just can’t._ Armin thought to himself as in instinctively glanced up. An opening sat in the middle of the roof, a gap that also looked as if it led somewhere. 

“Captain!” Armin cried with joy. “Up here!” He engaged his grappling hook and hoisted himself up into the hole, and just as he suspected, it continued, even though it was small and they would have to crawl on their hands and knees. 

“Sasha! Get up there!” Levi shouted to Sasha. Sasha obeyed and engaged her hook to copy Armin. Once Sasha was up, Levi quickly hoisted himself up. When he got up, Armin and Sasha were waiting for him. “Move!” He reminded them, and the three began crawling their way through the small passageway. 

“AWWWWWE!” The scream echoed behind them, but it began to sound further away. 

“Keep moving! Don’t stop!” Levi shouted on his hands and knees from the back. 

“Yes, sir!” Sasha cried. 

The three crawled through the small tunnel until Sasha felt nothing under her hand and fell face forward down into a pit. 

“Ahh!” She cried as she plummeted onto a slop. 

Armin, who was right behind her, was surprised when the ground disappeared under him. “Ahh!” Armin cried as he tumbled down the slope. 

Levi, who heard the two in front of him, caught himself and manage to turn around, so he went feet first, sliding down the slop so instead of falling. 

“Ooff!” Sasha cried when she finally stopped. She began to place her elbows on the floor when Armin tumbled right into her, making her fall down again. 

“Sorry,” Armin said. 

“It’s okay.” Sahsa coughed. “Where are we? I can’t see anything.” 

“Hold on.” Levi came to a stop. Levi reached for his pocket to pull out his matches and relight the lantern. Light begins to flood around them, and the area they are in becomes clear. 

They had fallen into a large pit. Stone walls surrounded them except for the side where a steep slope crept up until it reached another wall. 

“What’s this?” Sasha asked. She felt something long, dense, and smooth under her hand. She pulled it up into the light to examine it. “Oh.” She said when she saw what it was. It was a bone: a human bone, an ulna to be exact. 

Levi narrowed his eyes and began to walk around the pit. Bones. Bones were scattered everywhere. There were piles in the corners, skulls with holes in them, femurs broken in half. And pelvic girdles were thrown about the area. 

“This must have been a kill site,” Armin said. 

“You think?” Levi said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. 

Maybe to the regular person, this amount of human bones would have scared them. But Levi, Armin, and Sasha were used to seeing mangled body parts. Bones were less than graphic as they were all stripped of flesh. 

Armin inspected a broken femur. He looked at it, carefully tracing his fingers along the ridges and canals. “This femur has teeth marks on it.” He said. 

“Can I see?” Sasha asked. 

Armin passed her the bone, and Levi held the lantern higher to give her more light. Sasha inspected the marks one by one. “Those weren’t made by any animal I’ve ever seen, and they’re too small to be that monster.” 

“What do you think they are?” Armin asked. 

Sasha’s face went pale. The sharp lines and square shape imprints only could lead to one possible conclusion. “Human,” Sasha muttered. 

“What?” Levi asked, surprised. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes, look!” Sasha showed them the square imprint and the sharp flat scraps that an animal could only make with large front incisors. 

Armin began picking up other bones and began to notice the same pattern on everyone he touched. “All of these have the same kind of bite marks. Humans consumed all of the flesh that was on these bones.” 

“So… it was a cannibal?” Sasha’s eyes widened. 

“That’s disgusting!” Levi snarked. “We live in a world with titans that eat people, who would consume other humans just to do it.” 

“I don’t think they had a choice,” Armin said. “These mine shafts are ancient. We’ve been walking around in the dark for hours and have yet to see any sign of an exit or the others. If someone were to fall here and got trapped and lost in the tunnels, eating the flesh of the dead might sound very appetizing.” 

“So they were forced to eat people to stay alive?” Sasha asked. 

“That’s horrible,” Levi said. “It still doesn’t explain why all these bones are all here, though, and not scattered throughout the tunnels.” 

“Maybe the person who ate them placed them here. Maybe they never left. Maybe they’ve been trapped here this whole time. People go missing near the cathedral, maybe there is a pit or a hole nearby, and so the Cannibal just waits, waits until someone falls, and gets trapped as well. Maybe the strange earthquake we experienced is a normal occurrence.” 

“Great, so we’ve got a cannibal and a monster to worry about.” 

Armin looked at Levi and then at Sasha. “Maybe the monster is the Cannibal.” 


	10. Chapter 10

“Sasha?” Connie asked into the darkness. A chill went up to his spine as the shadow he was calling came closer. The shadow made a clunking noise with each step it took. Connie realized that it had a limp and was holding something big and bulky as it got closer. 

_RUN!_ A voice yelled in Connie’s head, so he turned around and ran the other way. 

He heard the shadow call out a grunt, but Connie didn’t listen. He just turned and began running. He couldn’t see where he was going in the dark, but Connie could feel the moist cold air rush past him as he ran faster and farther into the unknown. 

The clunking continued. It got louder and more aggressive, which meant that the shadow was now running Connie’s way. 

“AWWWWWEEEEE!” The blood-curdling scream echoed in the darkness. 

_Keep running, don’t stop!_ Connie told himself, too scared to feel like a coward for not fighting. 

The clunking got closer, and closer and pretty soon, Connie realized he wouldn’t be able to outrun it. Maybe it was because he was too short. But he quickly scanned his environment for anything he could hide behind. Connie’s eye caught sight of a series of walls made from wooden planks. They ran perpendicular to the tunnel and made a perfect place to hide. 

He ran to it and cuddled as close as he could in the dark crack. Hopefully, whatever was chasing him wouldn’t see him. The clunking noise closed in and then stopped. Connie heard footsteps in the area, so he pressed his back against the tunnel wall to hide in the shadows. Connie felt his heartbeat fast against his chest. _Lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub_. Slowly he turned his head to peer through the cracks. 

There was a man, a man wearing thick metal armor, he had a welding helmet on and appeared to be carrying a massive backpack with a hose attached to it. The hose wrapped around him and then straighten into a nose, which he held with his hand. 

“Where did yer go.” The man whispered. “Come out. I know yer here.” 

Connie closed his eyes tight. _Where is everyone? Why did I have to get separated alone!_ Connie thought to himself. The clunking got louder and closer. 

“AWWWWWEEE!” The scream was right on top of them. 

“SHIT!” The metal man screamed before he turned around and realized a large amount of fire at the thing that launched itself at him. 

“Ahhhh!” Connie cried when he saw the flames and took it as an opportunity to run forward. 

The metal man turned around; flames danced behind him. “WAIT!” He called after Connie.   
Connie didn’t listen; he just kept running. 

“Come back! Don’t go that way!” The metal man shouted. 

Connie ran through the tunnel, and he dared not to turn back or look behind him. His heart was pounding in his chest. At the end of this tunnel, he came to a narrow crack. Pressing his back against the wall, he began to shimmy through it, unsure of where it leads. 

The ending of it opened into another tunnel. With each step, Connie heard his heart pump louder and louder in his chest. _Lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub_ It echoed in his ears, and it pressed against his lungs. He felt the blood run through him. But he was almost there to the other side. He just needed a few more steps. 

Before his foot could even reach the opening, the wall in front of him busted open, and a large hand with claws came crashing down on him. 

“AHHH!” He screamed as he shimmied faster, reaching the opening, and then began running again. 

“AWWWWWEEE!” The scream echoed around him as another hand came sweeping out from his left. 

“Crap!” He shouted before dogging it and running straight again. The tunnel opened up into a cavern, and a wooden bridged laid in front of him. Connie ran over the bridge, stepping on each blank so he wouldn’t fall. Suddenly, the planks under him busted open, and another long grey clawed hand came reaching out. 

“Ahh!” It jumped. It almost grabbed his foot. He was at the end of the bridge just a little closer, and he would reach the other side. That was another tunnel. It was less vulnerable to in there. But before he could get to the last remaining plank. A loud crash echoed through the cavern as a large body came hurtling through the bridge. 

The crash sent Connie hurdling back, landing on his back. He placed his hands infront of his face to keep wood from shooting in his eyes. 

“AWWWWWWWWEEEE!” The monster was directly in front of him, and for the first time that night, someone had a full view of one of the demons that had been hunting them. 

It stood at least nine feet tall. Its grey skin was wrapped tightly around its body, so tightly that Connie could see its ribs sticking out. Its hands it feet resembled those of humans except longer and had curved claws at the end. But what disturbed Connie the most was its face. The monster’s face looked like someone took a deer skull and a human skull and mashed them together. It had front faces, sunken eyes: a long snot and sharp ears. Sharp jagged antlers poked out from behind both its ears. The monster gnashed its crooked teeth at Connie as blood-red saliva dripped from its fangs. 

“AHHHHHHHH!!!” Connie screamed as he turned around and got struggled to get up. He felt the monster sweep at him, but his quick reflexes made him jump up into a standing position as he took off running in the direction from which he originally came. 

As he ran across the bridge, he heard the monster follow him, screaming as its claws dug into the planks. From the corner of his eye, Connie saw a grey figure crawling on the far wall. “Shit!” He screamed. He jumped the last bit of the bridge as the figure from the wall lunged at him. 

“AWWWWWEEEE!” It screamed. Connie only caught sight of its antlers as it landed on all fours infront of the other monster chasing him. 

Connie made his way into the narrow opening but felt claws grasp his shoulder and pull him out. One of the monsters had grabbed him and then proceeded to throw him across the cavern with great force. Connie smacked into the wall and fell on the floor hard. Three monsters began running toward him, but fire erupted through the cavern before they could reach him. 

“AWWWWWEEE!” The monsters cried in pain. 

“Die! DIE YER DEVILS!” The metal man screamed as he charged throw the fire and infront of Connie, using his hose to dose the beasts in the fire. “DIE!” He screamed again. 

The man reached down and pulled Connie up with one hand. He then shoved a small satchel bag at Connie. “Take these and run!” He shouted. 

Connie starred at the man. He wanted to run, but his legs didn’t work. 

“What are you waiting for! GO! I’ll hold um off!” The man shoved Connie, which gave him the jump he needed for his legs to work again. 

Connie once again took off running, earring the echoes of the screams behind him.

  
Levi reached his hand out to Sasha. He, Sasha, and Armin had just climbed out of the pit, and they were thinking of what their next move would be. 

“Well, Armin?” Levi asked. “Do you have any idea where to go?” 

“No, Captian, to be honest, I got pretty turned around when we were being chased by… whatever that was.” 

Levi nodded. “ I see.” 

“Hange, stop it!” Moblit’s voice echoed in the darkness. 

“What!” Hange cried back

The three froze. Voices echoed down the hall. 

“Shit,” Levi muttered, “Get back in the pit.” 

The three crawled back and attached their grabbling hooks in the ground to hide behind the wall of the pit. They did not trust these voices. 

Levi put his finger to his lips. He stayed between Sasha and Armin. 

“Where are we?” Erens voice asked. 

“In a tunnel, dipshit!” Jean snapped back. 

“I know that I meant wherein the tunnel!” Eren said. 

Levi drew his swords. The voices were only a few feet away now. 

“Shoot another dead end.” Mikasa’s voice echoed. 

“Commander, do you think we should stay put?” Hange asked. “If Levi and the others are also trying to find us, we might be missing them and not realizing it.” 

Levi made a face, and he looked at Armin. These voices felt much more real this time than they did the times before. 

“You’re right, but we don’t know what else will find us if we stay put. We heard the screams coming from this way. Hopefully, we cross paths with them soon.” 

Light flooded the area. Levi peaked his head over the wall. A sighed a big sigh of relief, and immediately Sasha and Armin both knew that the voices they heard were them. 

“Erwin!” Levi cried as he jumped out. 

“Levi!” Erwin stopped along with the others. 

“Mikasa!” Armin called. 

“Armin!” Eren shouted. 

“Sasha!” Jean called. 

Levi, Sahsa, and Armin made their way to the group. Mikasa, Armin, and Eren hugged. Jean and Sasha hugged, and Erwin placed a reassuring hand on Levi’s shoulder, although he wanted to hug him. 

“LEVI!” Hange squealed. 

“It’s good to see you four-eyes.” 

“Is Connie with you?” Moblit asked. 

“No.” Levi shook his head. “Erwin, there’s something down here.” “Hunting us.” 

Erwin furrowed his brow and nodded. “We are aware. We had a run-in, as did Jean and Eren.” 

“Did you get a look at it!” Hange asked. 

“No,” Levi said. “But whatever it was, it was not a titan or human.” 

“We’re missing Connie!” Eren stepped up. Armin, Mikasa, Jean, and Sasha and stood behind him with worry on their faces. 

“This area is relatively safe. All of you stay here, and I will go look for Connie,” Levi said. “Once we find him, we can make our way out of this hell hole.” 

“I’ll go with you,” Jean said 

“Jean, I don’t want anyone getting hurt.” 

“Levi, someone needs to go with you,” Erwin said. “It would be unnecessarily reckless to go alone.” 

“I can handle myself, Erwin.” 

“I know you can, Levi, but we don’t know what we are dealing with.” Erwin stammered. 

“Moblit and I can go with him,” Hange stated. 

“You just want to go so you can get a look at that monster.” Moblit crossed his arms. 

“I want to find Conni!” Hange defended. “But getting a closer look at it will be great.” 

“Hnage you shouldn’t go,” Levi said. 

“Levi, take Hange and Moblit with you. That’s an order.” 

Levi sighed. “I will trust your judgment, Commander.” 

“Let’s get moving!” Hange stated excitedly, but before they left, the group heard pounding footsteps running down the tunnel.

“Ahhh!” Connie shouted. 

“Connie!” Sasha cried. 

“Oh my gosh! Why are you all standing here! Move!” Connie screamed as he tried to run through them, but Erwin grabbed him with his one arm and stopped him. 

“Connie, nothing is chasing you,” Erwin said. 

“Connie! There you are, we were just about to look for you!” Hange said. 

Connie, who was out of breath, fell to the floor. “No, NO NO!” He cried. 

“Connie, what’s wrong!” Sasha jumped near him. 

“Connie, did you see it!” Hange said. 

“What happened!” Jean asked. 

“What was chasing you!” Mikasa asked. 

“Did you see it!” Eren asked. 

They all asked these questions at once, bombarding the poor boy as he laid there out of breath and completely terrified. Levi noticed this and stepped in between Connie and the rest of his squad. 

“All of you shut up,” Levi put his hand out. “Give the poor kid time to breath.” He then crouched down infront of Connie. “Connie, when your ready, explain to us what happened. 

Connie dry heaved on the ground. Tears leaked out of his eyes, and he was trembling. He had never run so fast in his life. Not even from titans. “I… I woke up alone on a platform, and then there was this child, and then there was this man… and I thought he was chasing me, but it turned out he had a flamethrower, and he was trying to kill them, but I didn’t know that! And so I ran away, and then there were all these hands, and then I saw them!” The monsters!” “They… I’ve never seen anything like it before!” 

“Wait, you saw it! What did it look like!” Hange jumped infront of Hange. 

“Back off, Four-eyes!” Levi shoved Hange away by their forehead. “Connie, what do you mean monsters?” “Are there more than one?” 

Connie nodded, still breathing. “Yeah, I saw three, but I am pretty sure there were a ton more.” 

Levi’s face grew pale, as did the rest of the group. “What the hell are those things?” 

“Maybe they are some new abnormal species of titans!” Hange said. 

“They can’t be titans,” Erwin said. “They seem to hunt with skill.” 

“Maybe a form of titan shifters?” Moblit asked. 

“Or maybe, they are a new species of monsters entirely!” Armin stated. 

“It would be careless to think that titans are the only threat in this world,” Erwin stated. 

“Yes, but what could they possibly be?” Eren asked. 

“A devil none of ye have ever dealt with ye for.” A voice rang behind them. The group turned around and saw a metal guarding their only exit. 


	11. Chapter 11

“Who are you!” Hange shouted while drawing their sword-like the rest of the group. 

“Shut up!” The metal man's voice was lower, but he was aggressive. “I got rid of em for now, but they’ll hear you.” 

“And what are they?” Erwin asked. He was the only one who didn’t draw his sword. He didn’t feel threatened by this man, Levi on the other hand, he was next to Hange, swords in both hands. 

“Put your swords away, and I’ll tell you!” 

“No! You’re going to tell us, and we will keep our swords out right here!” Hange shouted. 

“And why should we listen to you!” Eren shouted!

“Now I came here to say what I'm going to say; you kids have a lot of nerve coming up here to play around in that Cathedral. Do you even know the history of it!” 

“We didn’t even know it was a Cathedral!” Jean protested. 

“Well, it doesn’t matter, they have your scent, and they want your flesh now.” The man stated. 

“And what are they?” Levi asked. “We’ve all dealt with the worse this world has to offer. I’m sure we could deal with…” 

“No! You have NEVER seen anything like this. You kids were lucky when the military police took you away! You should never have returned!” 

“It was you!” Hange shouted. “You were the ones stocking Mobilt and I in the woods!” Hange shouted. 

“Yes, it was me! I always watch the tourists make sure idiots like you don’t go into the Cathedral!” 

Levi shot a look at his squad. 

“Wait, guys! This man saved me!” Connie, who was still on the floor, begged. 

“Scouts put down your swords,” Erwin ordered. 

Levi turned back at Erwin, then retracted his swords. Once he did, all the other scouts did as well. Hange was hesitant, but they did as well. 

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Hange said. 

“No, I don’t. I don’t owe the military anything.” The man sneered. 

“Then why are you here?” Levi asked. 

“Conscious, we don’t have much time, but every single one of you made a big mistake coming up these mountains, but the six of you made the biggest mistake when you walked into that Cathedral.” The man sneered. 

“Yes, we know it’s illegal, and the MPs own it.” Jean rolled his eyes. “Are you some MP soldier?” 

“The military police.” The man smiled and then laughed. “Hahaha, No, I was in the military a very, very long time ago. But I can assure you the MPs don’t own that Cathedral; these mountains don’t even belong to the royals.” 

“We happen to be very good friends with the Queen herself,” Eren made a snide remark. “I can assure you these mountains belong to her.” 

“Hahaha,” The man laughed. “The mountains don’t belong to her or the MPs; these mountains belong to the wendigo.” 

“The wendigo?” Armin croaked an eyebrow. 

“I have never heard of that. Is it an animal?” Erwin asked. 

“Animal no, it’s a curse. If any man, woman, or child results to cannibalism within these mountains, the spirit of the Wendigo shall be unleashed. Those who consume human flesh will be driven to madness until they have turned into a demon themself.” 

“Armin, you were right,” Levi told him. “The bones in that pit over there show signs of human teeth marks.” 

“Is that what happened to the minors?” Jean asked. 

“Yes.” The metal man nodded. 

“We can deal with them,” Hange stated. “We’ve dealt with titans...

“Wendigo are not Titans.” The man said. “They’re far more dangerous.” 

“And how would you know that.” Levi chimed in. 

The man smiled. “I was like all of you at one time. I was a Scout, I faced those man-eating beasts, and I flew in ODM gear. So when I tell you that Wendigos are far more dangerous, just know this comes from a place of experience.” “Wedigo’s don’t just consume. They hunt for not only food but for sport. They stock their prey to find its weakness and then expose it. Their senses are impeccable; they can hear a terrified heartbeat from miles away.” 

Eren and Jean looked at each other, remembering how the monster seemed to sense them. Both of their hearts were pounding. 

“We heard voices of someone who we thought was our friend, and it turned out it was one of these wendigoes,” Armin asked. “Why is that?”

“The wendigo traps its vitamins by making them hear things, hear people we’ve lost, those we cared about and never thought we would see again.” 

Levi looked down, thinking of how he heard Isabels and Furlan’s voices. It was that monster. He thought to himself. 

“So what do we do?” Erwin asked. “How do we kill them.” 

“Kill it!” “Ha!” “The only way to kill them off completely is to kill the one that started the whole thing. If you destroy the spirit that first consumed human flesh, you can break the cycle. And all the lives it trapped can finally rest. But if you don’t, they will just keep coming back, their undead. You can’t just swipe the Nape.” 

“Can we hurt it?” Armin asked. 

“Fire, it doesn’t like heat. You can slow it down.”

“Hmm.” Erwin pondered their situation. “We will have to deal with these monsters later. Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here in one piece. We will come back with reinforcement to take care of them later.” 

“No, you won’t.” The man spoke. 

“And why is that,” Levi asked. 

“The Military Police know about these things. They will do anything to cover it up.” 

“I’ll deal with them later,” Erwin stated. “Do you know the way out of here?” 

“Yes, I can lead you to the Cathedral Catacombs entrance, and then you're on your own.” The man stated. “That's all I can offer you. When we walk through these tunnels, do everything I say and DO NOT wander off, no matter what you hear or what you see! These things prey on those who carry the most emotional weight! Don’t listen to them!”   
  
Everyone nodded as the man turned around, “follow me,” he said before he walked into the darkness.


End file.
